


The New Defenders

by CryptidNicholas



Category: Homestuck, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dave's big gay denial, Dave's gay panic, Dave's unrequited gay feelings, F/F, F/M, Gen, I will add tags as I go, M/M, New paladins, Strong Language, Trans Characters, ace-spectrum characters, bear with me, dave and nepeta friendship, dave has some internalized homophobia going on, dave's unrequited john crush, eridan is not as bad about hating land dwellers now that he's like 20, eridan may very well be genderfluid, eridan wears skirts and make-up, eventual feminine pronouns for John(June), idk how long it will take tho, jade's unrequited dave crush, kankri has a gun, kankri is mad, kankri loves his gun, karkat sending mixed signals 'cause he's dumb, karkat's quadrant confusion, klance and davekat will happen eventually, male pronouns for roxy, more mature version of kankri, nepeta's unrequited karkat crush, one is made of wolves instead of lions, rosemary will also happen eventually, sollux's unrequited karkat kismesis crush, some angst but don't worry too much about it, some cloning going on later, tavros has his robo-legs, two voltrons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 95,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CryptidNicholas/pseuds/CryptidNicholas
Summary: Keith and Lance have remained relatively young after the events of the galra war due to Keith's galra ancestry and the altean abilities gifted to Lance by Allura.Over two-thousand years after the war, and after all the other paladins have passed away, a new empire arises to threaten the universe.The troll empress, the Condesce, has been conquering worlds for years at the fringes of the universe. As she moves in to take on more territory, Keith decides that it is once again time to find the lions and reform Voltron with new paladins to take on the Condesce before she can threaten the whole of the peaceful universe Voltron left behind.Notes:This fic takes place 2,000 years after the events of the show, there will be spoilers if you have not finished the show. John, Jade, Dave, and Rose are the new paladins of the blue, yellow, red, and green lions. They are all each 21 years old. The troll kids, who will eventually make an appearance, are all 20 years old. Dirk, Roxy, Jake, and Jane will come in eventually too. Idk how long it's going to take but klance, davekat, rosemary, and probably some other ships are gonna be involved in this.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Jade Harley (Temporary), Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Davesprite/John Egbert (Temporary), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Sollux Captor/Feferi Peixes, Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket
Comments: 29
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

After the war with the galra empire, the lions once again disappeared, this time of their own volition, and over the next two-thousand years, Voltron faded into legend.

Keith, for a time, reluctantly led the galra alongside Krolia, Acxa, and Kolivan, while Lance stayed on Earth and watched his family and friends grow old as he stayed relatively young, due to the altean power and life force that Allura had gifted him with.

Eventually, Keith came back to Earth, becoming an instructor at the Galaxy Garrison, also staying relatively young due to his alien heritage.

Keith and Lance remained friends but only saw each other once or twice a year, until eventually, after everyone they knew and loved was gone, they didn’t see each other at all.

Lance had seen his sister’s children and grandchildren grow old and Keith had seen young cadets become elderly commanders.

The world was at peace. There hadn’t been a war in two-thousand years, though there had been rumors about a new race of conquerors that had been building their empire out at the edges of the universe. Nothing was ever proven though, not until one day when Keith was called to a meeting where he was met with a surprisingly familiar face. It was Rolo, who Keith had not seen since the war and who Keith had assumed had died years ago.

Rolo now looked much older but there was no doubt that it was him. He explained that he had been living out on the fringes of the universe for some time when he had to narrowly escape an invasion. He told of an alien race called the trolls that were taking over the universe planet by planet, much like the galra had done so long ago. It had taken him years to get back to Earth in order to warn Keith about the coming invasion, but he had felt it was a priority.

After Rolo told Keith everything he knew about the new troll empire, Keith had made up his mind that the lions of Voltron needed to be called home.

* * *

Days later, Keith began testing cadets at the Garrison for their teamwork capabilities, knowing he would need new paladins, now that everyone but himself and Lance were gone. Though he had his doubts that Lance would want to leave Earth after all this time.

“Everyone,” Keith started as a class of cadets entered the simulation room, which was a newer design infused with Earth science and altean magics. “Get into groups of four.” He instructed, giving the young cadets time to follow his command. “We’re going to run several tests today. Each test will exercise your teamwork capabilities. First is the regular flight sim.”

Rose, a cadet, raised her hand up in the air.

“Yes?” Keith asked.

“The flight simulator is only designed for three person teams, sir.” Rose said.

“Not today.” Keith said, walking over to the panel at the front of the large white room and pressing a few buttons, causing four single person flight simulators to rise out of the floor. “This is a new test.” He continued. “You’ll each be flying your own ship.”

Jade, another cadet, raised her hand.

“Yes?” Keith asked.

“But not all of us are pilots.” Jade said.

“Good thing I’m not testing your ability to fly.” Keith said. “I’m testing you on your ability to work as a team in a difficult and unfamiliar situation. I picked each one of you because you all had top marks in individual skills that I believe could be combined to form something great.” He paused. “Who wants to go first?” He asked.

John, another cadet, raised his hand, a goofy smile on his face.

“John,” Dave, another cadet huffed. “Put your hand down.” He said. “You can’t fly for shit and you’re gonna crash the sim.”

John shrugged. “Than I guess I should get it over with.” He smiled. “Are you gonna be on my team or not?” He asked.

“Obviously.” Dave said with only a hint of a smile.

John turned to look at Jade and Rose. “Come on.” He smiled as he stepped forward to face Keith.

Keith smiled a little at the four young cadets who all stepped forward. “You think you can work as a team?” He asked.

“Yeah!” John smiled. “We might fail the simulator, but we’ll fail it together.” He said.

Keith smiled. John’s optimism reminded him of Lance. He stepped aside and gestured for them to get into their individual simulators.

Dave instantly headed for the one with the red stripes on the side while John headed for the blue, Jade headed for the green, and Rose was stuck with the yellow.

Once they were all secured into their pods, Keith started up the simulation.

John was looking at all the controls with a bit of a nervous glare. He was training to be a med-tech and was only vaguely familiar with the controls of a pilot. He had been trained in a flight simulator a couple of times before he decided on going for the career of a med-tech but he couldn’t remember what any of the controls did and he didn’t think any of the controls in this pod looked like the controls for regular ships.

Rose studied the controls quickly, she was not a pilot either, as she had trained in engineering, but she liked to study different fields in her free time and she felt like the unusual way the cockpit was set up wouldn’t be a problem for her.

Jade was training in the communications field but knew her way around a regular ship, though this was a bit different than what she was used to.

Dave was the only pilot among the four and it didn’t take him long to identify the differing systems of the pod.

The screens within the four pods lit up to show a sky full of stars and an alien planet, there were several galra cruisers as well as a small fleet of fighters clustered together near the planet and after a moment of taking in this sight, Keith’s voice could be heard through the coms as he and the other students watched the simulation from different angles on a screen.

“Okay.” Keith started. “Your mission is to work together and take out the galra forces that are invading this planet.” He said.

John swallowed nervously, knowing he was about to fail this simulation.

“The most important thing is teamwork.” Keith continued. “You have ten minutes.”

“Wait, that’s it?” John asked. “Just take them out? No instructions?”

“Work together to come up with a plan.” Keith said. “You’re on your own. The clock starts now.”

“Okay.” Rose started. “Maybe if we take out the cruisers, the fighters will take off.” She suggested.

“How are we supposed to get to the cruisers with the fighters surrounding them?” Jade asked.

“Guys, I don’t know if we have time to talk about this!” John exclaimed. “I’m picking up some readings and I’m pretty sure we’ve been spotted!”

A couple of the galra fighters broke off from the group and began heading their way.

“Evasive maneuvers!” Dave yelled as he broke off from the pack and the fighters began shooting at them.

John panicked and shoved his handle thrusters forward, sending him flying into the galra fleet.

“Not that way!” Dave exclaimed.

“Sorry! I don’t know how to fly this thing!” John exclaimed back.

“John!” Jade exclaimed as she flew after him. “I’ll cover you! Get out of the swarm!”

“Thanks, Jade!” John said as he attempted to fly out of the cluster of ships.

“Rose!” Dave exclaimed. “Follow me!”

“What are you doing?” Rose asked as she attempted to follow her friend.

“We’re going to take down the closest cruiser.” Dave said.

“How do you plan on doing that?” Rose asked as the closest cruiser charged it’s ion cannon, aiming it for Jade, who was still attempting to cover John as he learned his controls.

“No, idea.” Dave said as he glanced around his pod for anything that could be a weapon.

The galra cruiser fired on Jade’s ship and made a direct hit, knocking her pod around.

“I’m hit!” Jade exclaimed. “I’m on fifty percent power!”

“I think I’m getting the hang of this!” John exclaimed. “Hold on Jade! I’ll help hold off the fighters! Maybe Dave and Rose can take out the cruiser if we clear a path for them!”

“Okay!” Jade said, realigning her ship to take out as many fighters as she could with her lasers.

“Okay.” Dave said as he found his main lasers and began firing on the cruiser. “Rose, you go for that ion cannon, I’m going to try and take out the bridge.” He exclaimed.

“Perhaps it would be more constructive to focus all of our energy on the ion cannon first before taking the ship down completely?” Rose asked.

“We don’t have time to do this one thing at a time.” Dave said. “The rest of the galra fleet it approaching fast. We need to find a way to effectively take them out.”

Rose didn’t argue, she instead directed all of her fire power at the ion cannon while Dave circled around to fire on the bridge.

The ion cannon seemed only slightly affected and continued to fire at Jade and John who were mostly just attempted to dodge attacks at this point.

“Guys!” Jade exclaimed. “I think we might need backup! We can’t take these fighters out while that thing is shooting at us!”

“What do you think we are trying to do?” Rose asked.

“Ah! But it’s not working!” John exclaimed as he accidentally slammed himself into a group of fighters.

“Dave, I need your help with the cannon. I can’t take it out alone.” Rose exclaimed.

Dave hesitated, still attempting to make a dent in the bridge defenses but after a moment he withdrew and headed to the aid of Rose. “It’s still not enough.” He said as the damage they were doing wasn’t strong enough to shut down the weapon.

“I’m on my way to help!” Jade exclaimed, pointing her ship in the right direction as John tried to get reoriented.

Jade took out a couple of fighters on her way over to the cruiser and directed all of her energy towards the ion cannon.

After about thirty seconds of hammering away at it, the cannon finally broke down as the rest of the galra fleet moved into position.

One of the cruisers shot it’s cannon at the cadets, Jade was hit and her ship powered down.

“I’m hit!” Jade exclaimed. “My ships done for!”

Dave and Rose set a course for the new cruisers but were stopped by the particle barrier that was surrounding them as a shield and John joined them a moment after as they flew through the fighters and avoided getting hit.

“How are we supposed to get through their shields?” John asked.

“Try drawing their fire in a way that gets them to fire on their own ships!” Rose exclaimed, and headed in the direction of the first cruiser, which still didn’t have a shield.

The three remaining cadets flew around to the other side of the cruiser just as two of the new cruisers were firing their cannons. The idea worked but wasn’t enough to take out the original cruiser and managed to take out John’s ship.

“Okay, now we’re two against an army.” Dave said. “How the hell are we supposed to beat these guys?”

“We don’t have to beat them!” Rose exclaimed. “We just have to do our best!” He added as she circled around to take out more fighters.

Dave followed in order to cover her but the two didn’t last long and after about two more minutes, they failed the simulator.

The simulation ended and the doors to the pods opened before the four cadets stepped out and went to stand in front of Keith.

“Okay.” Keith started. “You did pretty good for your first time in this situation.” He said, attempting to remain positive in their failure. “Can you pinpoint anything you would have done differently if you could do it again?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” John said. “I’d probably try to control my ship a little better so I could help out a little more. I felt kinda useless during the whole thing.”

“That’s normal for a first time pilot.” Keith said.

“I would perhaps attempt to be less persuasive and more authoritative when it comes to stating a plan.” Rose said.

“I guess if I could do it again, I’d like to get more organized.” Dave said.

“Maybe if we had had more time to study the irregular ship controls, we could have done better.” Jade said.

“If you want to try again, this simulation room will be open for free training for the next month.” Keith said. “If you decide to go again, just record your sessions so that I can review them.”

“Did we do a good job though?” Jade asked. “When it comes to teamwork?”

“I saw a few things that I liked and a few things that could certainly use improvement.” Keith said. “You’ll get a full report when you’re given your grades.”

“Yes, sir.” The four cadets said before walking over to stand with the rest of the group.

“Who’s next?” Keith asked.

* * *

Once everyone was done with the flight simulator, Keith had everyone get into groups of two.

“One of you will stay at this panel and the other needs to head to the middle of the room.” Keith said. “You are going to guide your partner through an invisible maze. You can see the walls on the panel but your test buddy will have to rely on any information you give them.”

Dave smirked a little. “Yo, John. You wanna team up on this one?” He asked.

“Absolutely not.” John smiled. “You’re just gonna run me into walls on purpose.”

Dave shrugged. “You just have to ruin my fun.” He said.

“How about you and me team up?” Rose asked Dave.

“Nope, you’re worse than me.” Dave said, knowing Rose would ram him into a wall or two.

“I’ll team up with you, Dave.” Jade smiled.

“Cool. Me and Jade against you two.” Dave said.

“Against?” John asked. “It’s not a competition.”

“It could be.” Dave said. “Whoever leads their team member through the fastest wins.”

“Nah.” John said. “I don’t always work well under pressure.”

When their time came, Dave pretended he wasn’t trying too hard but delicately led Jade through the maze with only a few missteps. Jade then led him through, accidentally knocking him into walls a couple more times than he would have liked. Rose led John through flawlessly, though John accidentally sent Rose on the wrong path a couple of times before he got her out.

The next test was a battle simulator with a robotic opponent and some small floating laser drones. Dave’s execution of this test was nearly flawless. He did well defending himself and his team and they managed to make it to the second level of the simulation because of his skills, though John eventually made the critical error of dodging an attack and getting Dave knocked out of the battle. The rest of them fell shortly after.

Keith ran the cadets through several more tests throughout the day. No one beat any of the tests other than the maze, and some cadets couldn’t even get through that without arguing with their partners.

Keith went to his room within the Garrison and sat down on his bed. With his loyal wolf, Cosmo, being with his mother across the galaxy at the moment, he was all alone.

He went over his notes for the day. Most of the cadets he had tested weren’t cut out for the type of teamwork he would need if he ever wanted to reform Voltron.

He sighed and tossed his clipboard onto his nightstand as a buzzing came from his door.

“Come in.” He said.

After a moment, the door opened, revealing Lance, who Keith hadn’t seen in over a decade.

Keith shot up to stand. “Lance?” He asked.

“Hey.” Lance smiled. He and Keith both appeared to be in their thirties now, though they were much older. “Rolo showed up. Said you were trying to reform Voltron with cadets. Thought I should stop by.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile. “It’s good to see you.” He said.

“Yeah. It’s been way too long.” Lance smiled and walked over to hug Keith.

It took Keith by surprise for a moment but he hugged him back.

Lance pulled away after a moment. “So how’s the hunt for new paladins going?” He asked.

“Honestly?” Keith started. “Awful. I tested over forty cadets today and almost none of them could work as a team.” He said. “Not to mention that if I find a group that can work together, I still have no idea how to find the lions since both the black and the red lions aren’t responding to me.”

“Yeah Blue and Red are both giving me the cold shoulder.” Lance said. “But I think I could find them for you.” He offered.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “What? How?”

“Well, in the last few years I’ve been spending a lot of time with the alteans.” Lance said. “I’ve been trying to harness the power that Allura gave me all those years ago. I’ve pretty much learned to do most of the things she could. Or at least some of the things she could. But I think I could find the lions if I really tapped into her energy.” He explained.

“You really think you could find them?” Keith asked.

“Yeah. I think I could do it. I mean, come on. How hard could it be?” Lance smiled.

Keith smiled.

* * *

There was only about fifteen minutes until all of the cadets were supposed to be in their rooms and John, Dave, Rose, and Jade were all walking through the hallways to get to their rooms when Jade spoke up.

“How do you guys think we did on the simulator today?” She asked.

“Probably not great.” John said.

“Who cares?” Dave said. “It’s not like any of you are training to be pilots or fighters or anything like that.”

“I simply wish to know what the test was for.” Rose said.

“Maybe the Garrison is putting together a super secret team of cadets!” John theorized.

“Not like we’ll ever know.” Dave said. “We failed pretty brutally.”

“We actually did better during combat training than any of the other groups.” Rose said.

“Yeah but that was just because of me being so awesome. That had nothing to do with teamwork. That was all me.” Dave said. “We still wrecked the flight sim and we had issues getting through the maze, just to name a couple of things.”

“We could do better, given enough time.” Rose said.

“Doubt it.” Dave said.

“I think we could be a great team!” Jade said. “We just have to keep practicing!”

“Yeah!” John smiled. “And maybe pick a leader. I nominate Rose ‘cause she’s the smart one!”

“Funny.” Rose said. “I would have nominated you.” She smiled.

“Me?” John asked. “Why me?”

“Because you believe in everyone and you never give up.” Rose said.

John shrugged. “I’m not really leadership material.” He said with a smile.

“I think you could be!” Jade smiled.

“We could all take turns being the leader and see who is the best at it.” Rose suggested.

“The leader of what?” Dave asked. “The simulation is over.”

“Not if we decided to go back and do it again.” Rose pointed out.

“I think it would be fun to try and beat the simulators!” Jade grinned.

Dave rolled his eyes underneath his sunglasses. “Sounds like a waste of time to me.” He said.

“I bet professor Kogane would let us skip our normal classes if we wanted to run the simulator again.” John said.

Dave raised an eyebrow. He had his general education classes for the next two weeks and he hated it. He much preferred the simulators over your everyday math, science, and english classes. “Alright, there’s that.” He said.

“So you’ll join us in the simulators tomorrow?” Rose asked.

“Yeah sure.” Dave said. “I have advanced english studies tomorrow. I’d so rather be in training than learning about a language I already speak.” He added as they slowed to a stop outside of Jade’s door.

“Awesome!” Jade smiled. “I’ll see you guys bright and early tomorrow! We’re so gonna beat that flight sim!” She exclaimed.

“Goodnight, Jade!” John smiled.

“Goodnight!” Jade answered before entering her room and closing the door behind her.

The other three headed to their rooms for the night as well.

* * *

Keith and Lance decided to head to the cafeteria to hang out for a while and Keith explained more about the universe’s new threat while they ate.

“We know that this race is completely hostile but we don’t know if they have any sort of end goal in mind or if the only thing they want is to take over planets one by one.” Keith explained. “This empress that Rolo talked about apparently already has about a fourth of the known universe under her control and doesn’t show any sign of stopping.”

“It’s crazy that we didn’t know about it until now if she’s really taken over that much of the universe.” Lance said.

“Yeah, well, it took Rolo years to get here to warn us and he has one of the fastest ships the Garrison has ever gifted.” Keith said. “Others might be trying to get here in slower ships. Takes a long time to get across the universe without a wormhole.”

“Yeah.” Lance said. “You remember when we lost the castle and we thought it was gonna take us over a year to get back to Earth in just the lions?” He asked.

“Yeah, I remember.” Keith smiled. “I remember you made me travel with Coran and he wouldn’t stop singing the altean alphabet.”

Lance smiled. “Yeah… Sometimes I miss that guy.” He said, looking back on the memories fondly.

“Yeah… I miss Shiro too… And Hunk and Pidge…” Keith said.

“And Allura…” Lance added. His and Keith’s smiles turned to frowns as the memories of their friend’s deaths played in their minds.

“At least they got to live a long life of peace and family on Earth and Altea.” Keith said.

“Yeah… Most of them did…” Lance said, looking down at his food. “Sometimes I wonder if Allura’s spirit could still be alive out there somewhere.” He continued after a pause. “Like the way the black lion saved Shiro when he died. Like maybe Blue could have saved Allura.”

“Maybe…” Keith said. “I guess it would be foolish to rule it out… But I don’t know why Blue would have left if Allura was inside it.”

“I don’t know.” Lance said. “Maybe she had something she had to do.”

“Must have been important.” Keith said.

“Yeah…” Lance said before looking up and putting on a smile. “So when do you want me to find the lions for you?” He asked.

“Would you be willing to do it tomorrow morning?” Keith asked. “The sooner the better.”

“Yeah, buddy. I’ll do my best.” Lance smiled at his friend.

* * *

The next day, Jade was quick to wake everyone up and pulled them to the simulation room first thing in the morning. The four of them recorded their sessions as Keith had asked them to and took turns being the leader, with Rose going first, Dave going next, John going third, and Jade going last. Dave and Rose were more strategic but John and Jade were better at inspiring teamwork.

They spent the entire day in the flight simulator and failed miserably every time. Though after hours of training with their ships, they realized each one of them had special skills. Dave’s red ship was fast and had a fire weapon, while John’s blue ship had an ice ray. Rose’s yellow ship was slow but could take more hits than the others, and Jade’s green ship had the best scanners and interior computer equipment.

After a long day, the four of them headed back to the dorms, feeling only slightly more accomplished than the day before.

“I told you this was a waste of time.” Dave said. “The sim is unbeatable.”

“It’s not unbeatable.” Rose said. “We just have to find a way to manipulate the environment to our benefit.”

“Yeah, good luck manipulating space and nothingness.” Dave said.

Jade shrugged. “Maybe it is unbeatable.” She said. “But maybe that’s the point.”

“What do you mean?” John asked.

“Maybe the point of the simulation is to work together for as long as possible and go down fighting as a team.” Jade said.

“Nothing is unbeatable.” Rose said. “If we can’t beat it honestly, we could always break it in our favor.”

“Does it really count as a victory if you cheat?” Dave asked.

“Yes.” Rose said. “A victory is still a victory no matter the means in which the game is won.”

“Yeah but if we cheat, we could get thrown out of the Garrison.” John said.

Rose sighed. “Not if they never find out we cheated.” She said.

“They’d find out.” Dave said. “Not that I care, but yeah. They’d find out.”

“Well I think we should try our luck at the battle simulator tomorrow!” Jade said. “It would get us out of our boring classes again and we could see if we can make it past level two!”

“Sure.” Dave said. “I don’t really wanna spend my time in advanced calculus anyway.”

* * *

Lance had spent his day in the two-thousand-year-old castle of lions that the group had built on Altea after the war. He stood where Allura once did in the original castle that housed them all those years ago as he used his energy to search the universe for the lions.

“You find anything yet?” Keith asked, having spent the day with him on Altea, mostly just watching as Lance stood still and concentrated.

“Not yet.” Lance said, sounding a little defeated.

“Don’t worry.” Keith said. “You’ll find them.”

Lance took in a large breath and concentrated for another half an hour before he lowered his hands to his sides and opened his eyes, turning to look at Keith. “I’m sorry.” He said. “I think I need to stop for a little while.”

“That’s okay.” Keith said. “You should probably get some rest and I should probably head back to the Garrison.”

Lance smiled a little. “The Garrison can wait.” He said. “Let’s get something to eat.”

Keith smiled a little. “Okay.” He said before walking out of the castle with Lance.

The two of them found a little restaurant that was still open this late at night and got some food before sitting down together. Lance was friendly with all the alteans and Keith realized that Lance knew them all.

“You seem like you have a lot of new friends.” Keith said.

Lance shrugged. “Yeah… This place has been my home for the last six years while I’ve been messing with all the altean energy stuff.” He said. “I’ve gotten to know a lot of people.”

“How come you waited two-thousand years to learn about your altean abilities?” Keith asked.

Lance shrugged again. “I didn’t know I had any altean abilities other than the whole living for thousands of years thing.” He said.

Keith nodded and there was a silence between them, though not uncomfortable.

Lance smiled. “So what about you?” He asked. “You make any new friends?”

Keith thought for a moment. “Not really.” He said.

“Really? None at all?” Lance asked.

Keith just shrugged.

“Come on, Keith. Our lives are too long to go through it alone.” Lance said.

Keith looked down. “What’s the point in making friends when they’ll eventually grow old and die while I stay young?” He asked, his face somber.

Lance frowned. “That’s one of the reasons I like being on Altea.” He admitted. “Alteans live a lot longer than humans.”

Keith nodded and looked up at Lance. “I’m glad they do.” He said. “I… I don’t know what I’d do if you died…” He confessed. “You’re the only person still alive who really knows me. I’m glad Allura gave you the gift of life.”

Lance smiled a little. “Yeah… I’m glad you’re still around too.” He said. “I don’t wanna lose anyone else. Especially not you.”

Keith looked up at Lance and let himself smile a little.

* * *

The next day, Lance worked hard, continuing to search for the lions, but made little to no progress. It took a couple of days, but Keith finally returned to Earth. Lance let him know that he wouldn’t stop searching until he found Voltron and once Keith went back to the Garrison, he stopped into the simulation room to check and see if anyone had been practicing any teamwork exercises.

It was late in the night and Keith didn’t feel like standing around in the sim room so he downloaded all the new recorded tests and went to his room to watch them. He found out that John, Jade, Rose, and Dave had been working at beating the simulator nonstop the entire time he had been gone. They had gone through every test they had been given several times and managed to make it to level thirteen of the battle simulator.

Keith skimmed through the footage of most of the tests before watching the flight simulator tests and paying attention to the details as the group of cadets came closer and closer to winning.

Keith spent the whole night watching simulation videos and in the morning, he went directly to the simulation room and waited until the cadets eventually showed up.

“Oh hey, professor Kogane.” John smiled as the four walked into the room.

“Hey.” Keith said. “I just got back from Altea last night and I’ve been watching your simulations for hours.” He paused as he put down the device he had been holding to watch their simulations. “You’re doing a lot better with practice. No one else has come close to where you are on your team building.”

“Thank you, sir.” Rose said. “We’ve been trying very hard.”

Keith nodded. “There’s an opportunity I’d like to share with you.” He said. “A mission to the outer regions of the universe. How would you like to be involved in a mission to liberate the universe from a tyrant?”

The four cadets looked at each other before looking back to Keith.

“I think that perhaps some elaboration would be useful before we make a decision.” Rose said.

Keith nodded. “I’m sure you’ve all heard of Voltron,” He began.

“Yeah. My dad told me stories about Voltron that were passed down through generations.” John said.

“Well I was one of the original paladins.” Keith said. “And I’m reforming Voltron in order to take out alien empress who is attempting to conquer the universe through force. Since the other paladins are all gone,” He paused, thinking of his friends and family. “I need four more paladins to fight alongside me. Four people who know how to work as a team and will never give up.”

“You’re one of the original paladins?” Dave asked, skeptical. “The original paladins existed over two-thousand years ago. How could you be one of them and still be alive?”

“Because I’m half galra.” Keith said. “Me and one other paladin are still alive. I’m alive because I’m galra, and he’s alive because he was given life by an altean named Allura, who was also one of the paladins.”

“If there are two of you alive, why do you need four new people?” Rose asked.

“Because as much as Lance would like to help, I don’t want to push him back into a fight. He’s earned his peace.” Keith said, knowing that that was only half of the reason, with the other half being that he simply didn’t want Lance to get hurt. He paused. “Do you four think you have what is takes to become paladins of Voltron?” He asked.

The cadets looked at each other once more before looking to Keith.

“I suppose it would be rude of me to decline such an offer.” Rose smiled.

“I guess if Voltron is the only way to free the universe from an evil empress, well, someone has to do it.” John smiled.

“If it’ll help the rest of the universe, I’ll do it.” Jade smiled.

There was a pause and everyone looked at Dave.

Dave thought for a moment, hesitating. He had always been trained to fight his whole life and he had always hoped he could live a life free of fighting, but he couldn’t just let the rest of the universe be destroyed because he didn’t want to fight. He let himself smile, just a little. “I guess I don’t have anything better to do with my life.” He said.

Keith smiled. “Then it’s decided.” He said, heading towards the door of the room. “Keep training as a team. I’ll let you know when it’s time to go get your lions.” He added before leaving the room.


	2. Chapter 2

The four cadets continued to train together for the next couple of weeks and were given a free pass to get out of all of their regular classes. Keith was beginning to worry that they may never find the lions though when Lance finally contacted him.

“Lance?” Keith asked as he picked up his communicator.

“Hey, buddy.” Lance said with a smile. “I found Blue.”

Keith let himself smile a little. “Good. Thank you.” He said. “I’m on my way.”

After ending his call, Keith went straight to the training room to get the cadets. The five of them headed to a ship and went through a wormhole to Altea where Lance was within the castle of lions.

None of them were in paladin armor, as Keith and Lance had stored the armor and the bayards at the castle until they would be needed again.

Keith and the cadets walked into the castle and found Lance, still standing at the helm and searching for the other lions.

“Lance.” Keith said, getting Lance’s attention.

Lance opened his eyes and turned to see Keith and the cadets. He smiled. “Hey.” He said before bringing up a visual on a planet many lightyears away. “I’ve got the coordinates for the blue lion and I’m pretty sure I can feel the green and yellow lions near the blue one.” He informed them.

Keith smiled. “Thank you.” He said.

“No problem, buddy.” Lance smiled. “Go get your ship. I’ll make a wormhole for you.”

Keith nodded and gestured for the cadets to follow him and they did. They headed back to the ship and once they got there, Lance sent the coordinates through to them.

Keith piloted the small pod out of the planet’s atmosphere before Lance created a wormhole for the five to jump through.

Keith went through the wormhole without hesitation and within moments, the group was orbiting around a small planet that looked similar to Earth. Keith took a reading of the surface to make sure that they would be able to breath if they went outside and the readings came back positive, so he landed as close as he could to the coordinates Lance had given him.

The coordinates lead through a valley with some lush woods and a large stream which led to a beautiful waterfall.

The five left their ship in the valley and followed the stream.

“If anyone feels drawn to the lion, speak up.” Keith said. “Back when we first found our lions, it was like an energy pulled us towards them.”

The cadets all nodded but no one felt anything yet.

They all continued down the path to the waterfall and after a moment, John felt something.

“Wait…” John said. “I feel… Weird…”

Keith looked at John as he slowed to a stop. “Good, that means you’re being drawn to the blue lion.”

John took a moment and looked around, trying to feel the energy of the blue lion. “I think we’re on the right track.” He said. “I think the lion is behind the waterfall.”

“Okay. Lead the way.” Keith said.

John nodded and walked out in front of the others. 

“So what makes John special to the blue lion?” Rose asked as they continued walking.

“Each lion has a distinct personality that gets mirrored in their paladin.” Keith said. “The black lion needs a leader, the red lion needs someone who will act on instincts, the green needs someone intelligent and inquisitive, the yellow needs someone who will be brave and protect their friends, and usually the blue lion will choose a paladin who has some hidden potential. Something that even the paladin doesn’t know they have to contribute.” He explained. “The lions choose their paladins.” He added. “Sometimes we don’t like the choice that they make but their decision is final.”

The five of them walked up to the waterfall and John glanced up at it before they all found a small path to get behind it.

Once they were in, everything was dark and they did their best not to knock into each other.

After a moment, a pair of glowing yellow eyes lit up down the path and illuminated an amount of the cave.

John looked up at the blue lion and smiled a little before walking over to it and putting his hand on it’s particle barrier, causing it to drop instantly.

The lion stood up and roared before laying it’s head down on the ground and opening up it’s mouth.

John grinned and took a step forward before looking back at Keith.

Keith smiled at him and he and the other cadets followed John inside and into the cockpit which was completely lit up.

John sat down in the pilot’s seat and the seat moved forward as the others stood behind him.

“Okay.” Keith said. “The controls will be similar to the simulator but not exact. You need to drop us off at the ship we came in on and then follow us through the wormhole back to Altea.”

“Alright, got it.” John said, before attempting to lift off slowly, only to crash through the waterfall and into the stream in a clumsy manner.

“This should be fun.” Dave said.

“Hey… I’m trying my best.” John said as he reoriented and got the lion standing again, slowly walking it out of the water before engaging thrusters and gliding over the forest and back to the valley where the ship was.

He tried to land gently but it was a little more like a careful fall.

Once the other four were in their ship and heading out of the planet’s atmosphere, John followed, attempting to keep the lion steady.

They all jumped through the wormhole and headed back to the castle where John landed the blue lion just outside the doors.

“Did you find the other lions yet?” Keith radioed in at Lance.

“Yeah. I’m sending you the coordinates for the green and yellow lions now.” Lance said.

“Thanks, Lance.” Keith said.

Lance sent the coordinates through to the pod and created a new wormhole for the others to travel through.

“John, you stay here and wait for us to get back.” Keith said. “Once we get all the lions, we’ll do a little live training. Try to bond with Blue while we get the others.”

“Okay.” John said simply as the small pod ship headed out towards the new wormhole.

Keith headed for the new planet which housed both the yellow and the green lion and headed for the coordinates that Lance gave him. He landed outside of a dense forest that appeared old and withered, almost as though there had been a fire there.

The four got out of the pod and Keith led them through the forest. “Does anyone feel anything yet?” He asked after a moment.

“Nothing.” Dave said. “But I doubt the smart lion or the brave lion would want me anyway.” He added.

“I don’t feel anything yet.” Jade said.

“Me neither.” Rose said.

“Sometimes it takes a minute.” Keith said. “When I first connected with my lion, it wasn’t instant. Sometimes you just need to focus and reach out.”

Rose slowed to a stop and closed her eyes as the others stopped with her. She reached out with her mind, attempting to connect with a lion, and after a moment, she smiled and opened her eyes. “This way.” She said, walking to the front of the group.

Rose led the group to a ruined monument in the forest where they descended into a dark catacomb and found both the yellow and the green lions. The eyes of the lions lit up and Rose walked over to the yellow lion, placing her hand on the particle barrier the way John had, though the shield did not open up for her, just as the green lion’s shield did not open up for Jade, who was feeling the pull of her lion at this point.

“Why isn’t it working?” Rose asked.

“Because you’re not the paladin of the yellow lion.” Keith said. “You’re the paladin of the green lion.” He added. “Jade is the paladin of the yellow lion.”

“But I’ve never trained with the yellow lion!” Jade said. “And green is my favorite color.” She added.

“Like I said before, the lion chooses it’s paladin.” Keith said, before he gestured for them to switch lions.

The cadets did as they were told and swapped lions, causing the particle barriers to fade and the lions to receive them. 

Dave went into the green lion with Rose and Keith went into the yellow lion with Jade.

“Okay, ease us back to the pod.” Keith said.

Rose didn’t have any issues with switching to the controls of the green lion, though it was a bit faster than what she was used to, and Jade took it slow.

Eventually, the two of them got back to the ship and let out their passengers.

Keith and Dave led the lions back through the wormhole and Rose and Jade parked outside the castle where John was still in his lion.

“Okay.” Keith said as he landed the pod with them. “Everyone follow me.”

Keith got out of his ship and the others followed suit.

“Oh hey.” John smiled at his friends. “Why is Jade in the yellow lion?” He asked.

“It chose her.” Rose said.

“Hmm.” John said. “I thought she would have been in the green.”

“As did we.” Rose said. “But apparently that wasn’t the lions plan.”

“Come on.” Keith said as he walked into the castle.

The others followed him and he led them to the room where the paladin armor and bayards were kept. The lights turned on when they walked in and Keith stepped ahead of them. “These are your suits of armor.” He said. “Suit up. As soon as we find the red and black lions, we’ll be running training exercises.” He added as he walked over to the black suit and hesitated to take it out. After a moment he took it and everyone else took their own suits and headed to different places to change before meeting back in the same room.

“These are unbelievably comfy.” John smiled as he came back into the room.

“They’re designed to mold to their paladin’s body and fit perfectly.” Keith said as he walked back into the room in the black paladin armor. He crossed the room and opened up the panel that contained the bayards. “These are your bayards.” He said as each of the paladins took their colored bayard. “They’re your weapon and they’ll take a unique shape for every paladin.” He explained.

Dave’s bayard instantly transformed into a sword in his hands, John’s turned into a warhammer, Jade’s turned into a gun, and Rose’s turned into two large stakes.

Keith picked up his bayard but didn’t have it transform into anything and simply let it absorb into his armor before he turned to look at the new paladins. “Don’t lose your bayards.” He said. “They’re your weapons but they also have importance when you’re flying your lions.” He explained. “Also, it might take a few minutes to get used to your suits.” He added. “When you need to absorb your bayard into your suit, or when you need to use your jetpack, or your coms, you need to focus on it. It’s kind of like a psychic link.”

Dave nodded and let his bayard absorb into his suit and the others did the same just as Lance came into the room.

Lance looked at Keith and halted as he took in the sight of him in the black paladin armor. He smiled a little after a moment. “The black looks good on you, Keith.” He said.

Keith smiled a little. “Any luck finding the other lions?” He asked.

“Found Red but I still can’t find the black lion.” Lance said. “You might want to try to call it back to you again.”

“Okay.” Keith said. “Do you want to take Dave to get Red while I try and connect with my lion?” He asked.

“Well I would, but I haven’t fought anyone in a while and the planet Red is on is one of the ones Rolo said that the new empire had taken over.” Lance said.

Keith nodded. “Alright.” He said, not wanting Lance in any danger. “Do we know anything about this planet specifically?”

“Just that it’s a pretty dangerous place.” Lance said. “Lots of fire and volcanoes.”

“Do we know how well guarded the lion is?” Keith asked.

“Not at all.” Lance said. “But the cloaking that Pidge put on all the lions could come in handy.” He added. “It’ll give you a few minutes of cloaking at least.”

Keith nodded. “Alright. Can you keep looking for the black lion while we head out to get Red?” He asked.

“Sure thing.” Lance said before heading back to the bridge.

“Okay.” Keith said. “Everyone to your lions. Me and Dave will ride with John and help him fly his.”

The paladins each gave a nod before heading out with Keith to the lions and getting inside of them.

The three lions headed through the new wormhole that Lance made and found themselves near the volcanic, troll-dominated planet. There were no ships in orbit and so Keith instructed them to head to the planet slowly and carefully.

“Most of the controlling forces are probably on the ground so when we get down there, me and Dave will head out to get the red lion while you three will give us cover. Keep cloaked for as long as possible though and don’t engage unless you have to.”

“Shouldn’t we take out these aliens though?” John asked. “I mean, if they’ve enslaved the planet, I feel like we should take them out.”

“Not yet.” Keith said. “You’re not ready to take on an entire fleet of enemies yet. We’ll come back to free the planet once we have Voltron.”

“Okay…” John said, not liking to leave a planet enslaved.

“Alright.” Keith started. “Let’s land there.” He said as he pointed to a spot on the radar. “That will get us close enough.”

John nodded and lowered the lion down to the ground, nearly crashing it, but with Keith’s verbal assistance, managed to land safely.

Keith and Dave left the lion and headed down a path between two volcanoes while the others stood guard.

“So what if this lion doesn’t want me?” Dave asked as he and Keith quickly walked.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” Keith said. “But Red can be a little temperamental, so you might have to convince him that you’re worthy of being his paladin.”

“Great…” Dave said.

“Don’t worry too much about it.” Keith said. “It didn’t take much for me to convince the lion when I first bonded with it.”

Dave just nodded. “I don’t feel anything.” He said after a moment.

“Neither did I when I first became a paladin. I had to be the one to call out to the lion in order to find it.” Keith said before he stopped walking and Dave stopped with him. “Close your eyes and focus.”

Dave did as he was told. After a few moments though, he opened his eyes again. “I still don’t feel anything.” He said.

“Patience yields focus.” Keith said, echoing what Shiro had told him so long ago. “Keep trying.”

Dave closed his eyes again and focused as hard as he could. It took over a minute but he finally felt something inside of him as he opened his eyes again. “Okay… I feel it. I think.” He said.

“Alright. Lead the way.” Keith said.

Dave continued down the path and led Keith into a cavern beneath one of the volcanoes where the two of them heard voices.

“Where do you think these things came from?” A voice asked.

“No idea. But the Condesce will want it.” Another said. “We don’t want the rebels getting their hands on another war ship.”

Keith and Dave peaked around the corner and saw four alternian trolls standing in front of the red lion, each with sickle like weapons.

“What’s the plan?” Dave whispered.

“We take them out to get to the lion.” Keith said. “You take the ones on the right, I’ll take the ones on the left.”

Dave nodded and instantly ran out to charge the trolls before Keith ran out after him.

Each of the trolls put up a good fight and Keith took his two targets out before Dave took his out. Dave then looked to the lion and walked over to put his hand on the barrier. The barrier didn’t dissipate.

“I don’t know how to prove myself to you.” Dave said. “But if you let me in, I won’t let you down.”

There was a moment of silence before the barrier disappeared and the lion opened its mouth to let the boys in.

“Uh, guys!” Jade’s voice came through the com system in their helmets. “Our cloaks are down and we’ve been spotted! Could you hurry?”

“We’re on our way to you.” Keith said. “Get to the wormhole.”

“Roger that.” John said before taking off toward the wormhole with Jade and Rose right behind him.

Keith and Dave caught up quickly with Red’s enhanced speed and soon enough everyone was back on Altea.

The lions were all parked outside of the castle and a small crowd of alteans gathered to see them as the paladins headed back to the bridge of the castle where Lance continued to stand.

“You find the black lion yet?” Keith asked.

Lance opened his eyes and turned to look at Keith. “No.” He said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Keith said. “I’ll try to reach out again. Maybe now that we have the other lions, things might be different.”

Lance smiled. “Good luck.” He said.

Keith nodded and walked over to take a seat and concentrate on his lion. “I want the rest of you to go bond with your lions while I try to find mine.” He said as he sat down.

The other four paladins headed off the bridge and Lance watched them leave before he walked over to Keith.

“You know…” Lance started. “You really only needed three more paladins… I would have taken Red or Blue back if you had asked me to.” He said.

Keith opened his eyes. “I know.” He said. “But you deserve to live in peace for the rest of your life.” He added. “You don’t need to fight anymore.”

Lance looked at him for a moment. “Don’t you deserve peace too?” He asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Keith said. “Someone has to lead them.”

Lance nodded a little and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Let me know if you need me.” He said before walking away.

Lance headed out to the front of the castle and looked up at the lions that he hadn’t seen in two-thousand years. He smiled as he remembered his time as a paladin of Voltron.

The new paladins were all out and standing together, holding their helmets in their hands as they spoke to each other.

“Usually it’s easier to bond with your lion when you’re inside it.” Lance spoke up and got the new paladin’s attention.

John and Jade smiled at him.

“We were just talking about how cool this all is!” Jade smiled.

“Yeah it’s pretty cool.” Lance smiled. “We didn’t get introduced though.” He said. “I’m Lance. I used to pilot the blue lion before I piloted the red lion.” He held out his hand.

John was the first to shake his hand. “I’m John. This is Jade, Rose, and Dave.” He introduced.

Lance shook the hands of the other new paladins.

“So you know professor Kogane pretty well?” Dave asked.

“Professor Kogane?” Lance asked with a smile. “I just call him Keith.” He said. “But yeah. We used to be like family when we were paladins. After the war was over we drifted apart a little but yeah, I know him pretty well.”

“Is he a good leader?” Dave asked.

“Yeah.” Lance said. “Yeah, he led us through a lot. He’s a good guy.” He paused and smiled. “Though he started out as this huge hothead who thought he could do everything himself, which is why he used to pilot the red lion. But we all changed a lot when we were the paladins.”

“How did you change?” Rose asked out of curiosity.

“I used to be cocky and I thought I was the most important person in the world.” Lance said. “After a couple of years in space with the other paladins though, I grew up a little.”

“How long were you on your mission as a paladin?” Rose asked.

“I honestly can’t remember.” Lance said. “It was a long time ago. But I want to say it was a little over two or three years.”

John frowned. “Do you think we’ll be gone for a couple of years?” He asked.

“Maybe.” Lance said. “Depends on how long it takes to take down the empress.”

John nodded. “I think I wanna call my dad before I go.” He said.

“Good idea.” Lance said.

John walked into his lion to use the computers to call his dad and Rose went inside of her’s to call her mom.

“Don’t you want to call your bro?” Jade asked Dave who was leaning against Red’s open mouth.

“Not really.” Dave said.

“Why not?” Jade asked. “You might not get to talk to him for years!”

“He’s not going to care.” Dave said.

“Dave, if I could talk to my grandpa again I would. You should call him.” Jade said.

Dave sighed and walked into his lion.

Jade watched Dave walk into his lion before she looked at Lance. “I guess I should go bond with my lion.” She smiled.

Lance smiled back. “Good luck.” He said.

“Thanks!” Jade smiled and walked into her lion.

Each of the lions raised their heads once their pilots were inside and each of them sat down at their consoles.

Dave was the first to call home. His bro didn’t answer and so he tried again. No answer. He decided to leave a message.

“Hey, bro…” He began. “So you might not believe this but I got selected for this super cool mission. Basically one of my professors is reforming the legendary Voltron and we’re gonna go fight some alien dictator… I’m officially the paladin of the red lion… Yeah I doubt you’re gonna believe me about any of this… Anyways… I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving for a while to go on this mission and I don’t know when I’ll be back… So I guess I’ll see you later…” He hung up the line and sighed. Sometimes he wished that his bro would just care about something. Anything. Even if it wasn’t him.

Rose called her mother and proceeded to have a debate with her on the existence of Voltron after Rose broke the news to her. Eventually Rose got to the point and explained the journey she was about to go on.

John called his dad and the two of them cried together over John’s departure and the fact that they may not see each other for some time.

Once the paladins were done with their calls, the four of them tried to bond with their lions.

* * *

Keith was sitting on the bridge of the castle, completely silent, just concentrating. After about a half an hour of not being able to connect with the black lion he let out an aggravated breath. “I know it’s been years… I know you’ve moved on… But I need you.” Keith exclaimed in frustration. “I need you to come back to me.” He closed his eyes again, trying as hard as he could to connect with the black lion, but nothing worked. He thought that for a moment he could almost feel his lion’s spirit but it only lasted for a split second.

After a couple of hours had passed, Lance came back to the bridge and sat down beside Keith.

“Nothing yet?” Lance asked.

Keith let out an exhausted sigh and opened his eyes. “I just don’t understand why the black lion is shutting me out.” He said. “Zarkon was able to connect with his lion no matter where he was in the universe and I thought that I might be able to do the same but… It’s almost like my lion is pushing me away…”

“Well first off, Zarkon had Honerva to enhance his reach.” Lance said. “I don’t know if the way he connected with his lion was totally natural. You know? And secondly, I don’t think your lion is shutting you out, I think we’re just too far away from it. Plus, it has been two-thousand years, your bond is bound to fade a little in that time.”

“Zarkon’s didn’t, and he had been waiting for ten-thousand years.” Keith said.

“And like I said, he had a witch to help him with that.” Lance said before lightly patting Keith on the back. “Come on.” He added, standing up. “If the black lion won’t come to you, we’re just gonna have to take you to it.”

“But we can’t find it.” Keith said.

“So we go looking, the old fashioned way.” Lance said. “We’ll search the whole universe.”

“That would take years.” Keith said.

“Nah.” Lance smiled. “We’ll get lucky.”

“How do you know?” Keith asked.

“I uh… I don’t know.” Lance said. “I just feel like we need to keep trying.”

“What if we’re not meant to reform Voltron?” Keith asked. “Like, what if this isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing?”

Lance paused as he thought. “What would Shiro tell you to do?” He asked.

Keith looked up at Lance for a moment before looking back down. “He would tell me to keep trying. He would say never give up.” He said.

Lance smiled. “So what are you gonna do?” He asked.

Keith looked up at him again and let himself smile a little before he stood up to face Lance. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to find the black lion.” He said.

Lance grinned. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” He said.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“We’re gonna fly this castle out of here and go looking.” Lance said.

“Wait, no. You’re not coming with.” Keith said.

“Uh, yeah I am.” Lance said.

“No, Lance.” Keith said. “You’re happy here on Altea. You don’t need to give up your life to follow me into space.”

“Keith, I’m going with you.” Lance said. “Besides, you need someone to pilot the castle and you don’t have any other friends.” He smiled.

“I don’t even need the castle.” Keith argued.

“Then how do you expect to make wormholes?” Lance asked. “Once you get too far away from Altea and from Earth you won’t be able to just zap across the universe anymore without the castle.”

Keith took in a breath. “Look, I’m gonna be honest… I don’t want you coming with because there’s a chance you could get hurt and I can’t lose anyone else. I need to know you’re safe here.” He said.

“Well the way I see it, if we get taken out, we should get taken out together.” Lance said. “I don’t want to just sit here and not do anything when I could be helping.”

Keith stared at him for a moment, knowing that he had made up his mind. He let out a breath. “Fine.” He said. “But I want you to stay as far away from trouble as you can and just let me handle any fights.”

“Sure thing, team leader.” Lance smiled and walked over to the flight control area, placing his hands on the energy posts.

“Don’t you wanna warn the alteans before you take off with their castle?” Keith asked.

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the past couple of hours?” Lance asked with a smile. “Go tell your new paladins to get to their hangers. I’ll get the ship ready for take off, then you can come co-pilot for me.”

Keith smiled and headed out of the room and to the front door of the castle to look out at the four lions gathered outside. “Paladins,” He begin through the com unit in his helmet. “Get to your hangers. We’re taking off with the castle.”

“Hangers?” John asked. “Where are the hangers?”

“Look at the castle.” Keith said. “You see the four spires that are separate from the main building?”

“Yeah.” John said.

“At the top of each of those is a hanger door that will open when its lion gets close enough to it.” Keith said.

“Oh. Okay.” John said before taking off in the direction of the hangers, followed by his friends.

Keith watched them get into their hangers before he began walking back into the castle.

“Keith!” A voice came from the crowd of alteans who were gathered around.

Keith looked back to see Rolo walking towards him.

“Hey.” Keith said.

“Hey.” Rolo greeted. “I thought you might be leaving soon so I wanted to wish you luck and give you this.” He said, pulling a small device out of his pocket and extending his hand.

Keith reached out and took the device. “What’s this?” He asked.

“It’s a video log database.” Rolo said. “I spent a lot of time researching the trolls those years that it took me to get to Earth. I compiled everything I learned about them into this thing so you’d have a starting point when it comes to fighting them.”

“Thank you.” Keith said.

“Don’t mention it.” Rolo smiled. “Let me know if you need any help.”

Keith paused for a moment. “Do you think you might want to come with us?” He asked. “I mean, I’m Lance’s co-pilot for the castle right now but once we find the black lion, he’s gonna need someone else to help him fly this thing and you’re one of the best pilots I know.”

Rolo smiled. “I’m not as good as I used to be at the helm but I could take a shot at it.” He said. “When do we leave?” He asked.

“As close to now as possible.” Keith said.

Rolo nodded. “You got a hanger for me to park my ship in? Just in case we need it?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Keith, pointed towards the general hanger where they kept the regular pods.

“Alright. I’ll join you once you get into orbit.” Rolo said.

“See you up there.” Keith said before walking back into the castle and back to the bridge where everyone else now was.

“What took you so long?” Lance asked playfully.

“I was talking to Rolo.” Keith said. “He’s gonna come with us. Once we get into orbit, he’s going to park his ship in the general hanger.”

“Okay. Why is he coming with us?” Lance asked.

“Because the ship needs to have two pilots a majority of the time and once I get the black lion, you’ll need someone else to co-pilot for you.” Keith explained.

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” Lance said. “But can he even pilot an altean ship?” He asked.

“He can learn.” Keith said. “I learned pretty quick just by watching Coran… Though I am a little rusty.”

Lance smiled. “We ready to launch?” He asked.

“Yeah, Lance. Ready when you are.” Keith said.

“Alright, let’s get flying!” Lance said as Keith walked over to the co-pilot station.

Lance and Keith worked together to raise the castle of lions from the ground and out into Altea’s atmosphere before waiting for Rolo, who soon entered into the castle’s hanger.

“Rolo.” Keith said. “You all set?” He asked.

“Ready to head out.” Rolo replied through the coms.

“Alright.” Lance said, looking to Keith. “Where to first?” He asked.

“Take us out near the edges of the troll empire.” Keith said. “Let’s see if we can do some good out there while we look for the last of the lions.”

“You got it, buddy.” Lance said, opening up a wormhole to take them through.


	3. Chapter 3

Lance brought the castle through a wormhole and ended up in the middle of space with no planets in sight.

“Where are we?” Rolo asked as he walked into the bridge.

“We’re about as close to the alternian empire as we can get without alerting anyone.” Lance said.

“Okay.” Keith said, turning to face the others. “Lance, I want you to help Rolo learn the controls to the castle. Paladins, I want you in the training deck or bonding with your lions. I’m going to try reaching out to my lion again.”

“You got it.” Rolo said, walking over to the control panel at the front of the bridge.

Keith walked out and the paladins soon followed as Lance walked over to the console next to Rolo.

“So what do you know about the alternians?” Lance asked.

“I know they’re a violent race.” Rolo said. “Not too different to the way the galra used to be.” He added. “All of the adult trolls of alternia get shipped off-planet to conquer new worlds and the kids pretty much run the home-world since a long time ago there was a revolt and the Condesce didn’t want any more organized rebellion.”

“That… Sounds like a dumb way of getting rid of rebellion.” Lance said. “A planet run by children sounds chaotic.”

Rolo shrugged. “It must have worked.” He said. “I haven’t heard of any sort of revolt happening since the empress made the change.”

“How old is this lady?” Lance asked.

“No idea.” Rolo said. “But I’ve heard she’s pretty ancient.”

* * *

John, Dave, Rose, and Jade were walking down the hallways when Dave spoke up.

“Where’s the training deck in this place?” He asked.

John shrugged. “I don’t know but I’m heading to my hanger to talk to my lion.” He said.

“Bonding with a hunk of metal sounds like a waste of time to me.” Dave said.

“Didn’t you bond with it already?” Jade asked.

“No.” Dave said. “I haven’t felt jack-shit from that massive hunk of junk since we picked it up. I don’t think it wants me.” He paused. “It probably wants professor Kogane or something.”

“I don’t think that the lion would allow you to fly it if that were the case.” Rose said.

Dave just shrugged. “Whatever.” He said. “I’m gonna try to find the training deck.” He added before branching off from the group down a different path.

John watched his friend walk away before catching up to the girls. “Is it just me or has Dave seemed weirdly unhappy lately?” He asked.

“He has seemed a little down.” Jade frowned.

“I have noticed him being slightly more self-deprecating than usual as of late.” Rose said.

“Yeah.” John said. “So it’s not just me? He’s totally been off lately?”

“It would appear so.” Rose said.

* * *

Dave wondered around the castle corridors for nearly an hour before turning a corner and nearly colliding with Keith who was now in his regular outfit rather than his paladin armor.

Keith stopped and took a step back. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing something right now?” He asked.

“Yeah but I can’t find the training deck.” Dave said. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing something too?” He asked.

“Yeah…” Keith said. “Decided to take a walk first.” He paused. “Do you need help finding the training deck?” He asked.

“Sure.” Dave said.

Keith nodded and walked past Dave and Dave followed him.

The two of them walked down a few hallways and took a few turns before Keith led them into a large room.

“Everything is voice activated.” Keith said. “The training simulations are similar to the ones you used at the Garrison.” He added before he began walking out of the room.

“Hey, professor Kogane?” Dave asked, causing Keith to stop and turn around to look at him.

“You can just call me Keith now.” Keith said. “I’m not your professor anymore.”

“Okay… Keith…” Dave said. “How long do you think we’re going to be on this mission?” He asked.

“However long it takes to take down the empress.” Keith said. “Why?”

Dave shrugged. “No reason, I guess… Just curious…” He said.

Keith eyed him for a moment before leaving the room.

* * *

Dave trained for what seemed like hours and eventually John came into the room and smiled his goofy smile at his friend.

“Computer, end training session.” Dave said, causing the computer to do as he said.

Dave was sweaty and had a few cuts and bruises but the simulations weren’t nearly as tough as the average battle with his bro.

He walked over to John. “Hey.” He said.

“Hey, Dave.” John smiled. “You’ve been training for a while and Lance made everyone some dinner and I was just wondering if you wanted to come eat with us.”

“Uh…” Dave looked around before he nodded. “Yeah I guess I should get something to eat.” He said.

Dave began walking towards the exit but John didn’t follow and so Dave stopped and looked at him. “You coming or no?” He asked.

“Dave, are you okay?” John asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Dave said. “Why?”

“Well normally you’ve got your cool dude exterior going on but you’ve just seemed kind of unhappy lately.” John said. “You’re starting to make me worry a little about you, man.”

Dave smiled a little. “I’m fine dude.” He said. “I’m just… I don’t know. I guess I’m just going through something and it’s got me breaking my routine a little.”

“Can I help?” John asked. “With the thing that you’re going through?”

Dave hesitated. “I don’t think so… I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it really…” He paused. “But since you’re my best bro, you’ll be the first one I talk about it with when I am ready.”

“Well okay…” John said. “I really wish I could do something to help though.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dave said. “Seriously, I’m fine. Now let’s go eat.”

John smiled and walked out of the room with his friend before leading him to the dining room where everyone else was already sitting and waiting for them.

“Hi, Dave!” Jade smiled.

“Hey.” Dave said and sat down between her and Rose while John sat next to Jade.

Lance, Keith, and Rolo sat on the opposite side of the table and Rolo poked at his food.

“What exactly is this?” Rolo asked.

“It’s meatloaf.” Lance said. “With extra topping stuff.”

“Doesn’t look anything like what I’ve been eating for the past few years.” Rolo said.

“Well let’s hope it’s better than what you’ve been eating.” Lance said. “I used Hunk’s recipe so it should be pretty good if I didn’t screw it up or anything.”

“It looks great, Lance.” Keith said.

“Thank you, Keith.” Lance smiled.

Keith looked at the paladins. “Did any of you manage to bond with your lions?” He asked.

“Yeah!” Jade smiled. “Me and the yellow lion and like best buds now!”

“Yeah Blue and I are totally best buds too.” John chimed in.

“Good.” Keith said. “You need to have a strong bond with your lions in order to fight as a unit and form Voltron.” He took a bite of his meatloaf and swallowed it before speaking again. “After dinner I’d like to take some time to do an exercise on concentration.”

“You’re not gonna have them do that mind melding thing are you?” Lance asked. “That gave me a headache all the times we tried to do it.”

Keith shrugged a little. “It helped us put things aside and focus on our goals though.” He said.

“Yeah... “ Lance said. “Wasn’t really worth the neuro-link headaches though.”

Keith was about to say something before a small ping sound came over the castle’s com system as a holographic screen presented itself over the table, showing a red ship approaching quickly.

“That’s an alternian ship.” Rolo said, standing up.

Keith stood up as well. “Everyone to the bridge.” He said before leading the others.

Everyone quickly headed to the bridge and Keith, Rolo, and Lance headed for the control centers of the ship while the paladins stood behind them.

“We’re being hailed.” Lance said before pulling it up on-screen.

An alternian troll with long horns and blue eyes scowled at them. “You are flying an unauthorized ship in the territory of the alternian empress, the Condesce. Prepare to be boarded.” He said before ending the transmission.

“Lance,” Keith said. “Put up the particle barrier.”

“Particle barrier up.” Lance said.

“Rolo,” Keith said. “Do you know anything about that class of ship?” He asked.

“Not much.” Rolo said. “Just that it’s one of their weaker models.”

“That’s good.” Keith said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to take out.” He turned to face the paladins. “Get to your-” He was cut off by Lance.

“Uh, Keith?” Lance said, drawing his attention back to him before Lance gestured to the screen where Keith could see the alternian ship as well as the black lion.

The black lion unleashed its jawblade on the ship, slicing it down the center and causing several small explosions.

“We’re being hailed.” Lance said again as the black lion turned to face them.

No video appeared on the screen but they could hear a voice.

“Unidentified ship,” A cranky sounding voice began from the cockpit of the black lion. “You have sixteen minutes and twenty seconds before the alternian ship is back online. I suggest you use it to get out of here.”

The transmission ended and the black lion took off in the other direction.

“Looks like your lion found a new paladin.” Rolo said.

Keith looked at Lance. “Follow them.” He said.

“Already on it.” Lance said as he moved the ship toward the black lion.

The castle was a little slower than the lion but kept up with it for the most part.

“We’re being hailed again.” Lance said, putting the audio up on-screen.

“Why are you following us?” The cranky voice asked. “We’re not some sort of mystical guide through alternian occupied space. Fuck off.”

“We’re following you because you’re piloting the black lion.” Keith said.

“So?” The voice asked.

“So it used to belong to us.” Keith said.

“Have you ever heard of finder’s keepers?” The voice asked in an unpleasant tone.

“Have you by chance heard of Voltron?” Lance asked.

“No.” The voice said.

“Well the ship you’re flying is one part of a larger ship called Voltron.” Keith said. “We need all the parts in order to form Voltron.”

“Well I need it in order to beat the ass of a huge bitch.” The voice said.

“Kk, just hang up on these assholes already.” Another voice said through the coms with a bit of a lisp.

“Are you fighting the alternian empress?” Keith asked.

“Yeah.” The first voice said.

“Well so are we.” Keith said. “We need Voltron to beat her though.”

There was a pause before the voice spoke again. “I don’t think I believe you.”

“Why not?” Rolo asked.

“You could just be trying to trick me and steal our ship.” The voice said.

“We’re not.” Keith said. “And if the black lion has chosen you than you can keep the ship. We just need your help to form Voltron.”

There was another pause. “Chosen me?” The voice asked. “What do you mean chosen me?”

“The lions choose their paladins.” Keith said. “The black lion will choose someone who is a born leader.”

There was a muffled laugh through the coms.

“Shut up.” The first voice scolded the second.

“I’m sorry Kk, but wow.” The second voice said. “You? A born leader? Come on? These guys are messing with you.”

There was another pause before the black lion’s pilot ended the transmission and sped up, trying to lose the castle.

“Dave,” Keith said, turning to him. “Get to your lion and get ahead of them. Don’t attack them though.”

“Why me?” Dave asked.

“Your lion is the fastest.” Keith said.

Dave nodded and turned to leave the bridge out the main door.

“You can just go through the door that leads to your hanger.” Lance said, causing Dave to turn around.

“What?” Dave asked.

Lance pointed to the door to the red lion’s hanger. “That one.” He said. “You all have a door to your hanger from the bridge.”

Dave headed for the door and to his hanger.

“Shouldn’t we all go to our lions and help him stop them?” Rose asked.

“No.” Keith said. “I don’t want them to think we’re trying to hurt them. If we surround them with warships they could attack and things might get ugly.” He looked at Jade and gestured to her chair on the bridge. “Jade, see if you can get them on the coms again.” He said.

“On it.” Jade said, heading over and taking a seat before opening up her command station screens.

After a couple of moments, an audio transmission opened up once again.

“What do you want?!” The voice asked, clearly irritated.

“We’re sending out one of our lions.” Keith said. “Do not attack.” He added.

Dave’s lion headed out and quickly caught up with the black lion.

“Oh shit…” The second voice said. “They really do have a warship just like ours…”

Dave opened up a transmission to the black lion. “This is officer Strider of the space cops.” He said sarcastically. “Pull over”

The black lion slammed into the side of the red lion and knocked him over a little before it kept going.

“Come on,” Lance groaned. “What do we have to do to get you to believe us?”

There was a pause. “I need to know I can trust you.” The first voice said.

“How do we prove it to you?” Keith asked.

There was another pause. “I… Don’t know.” The voice said.

“Look,” Keith said. “I promise you, we are not going to attack you. You can trust us.” He paused. “We’re on the same side.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You can’t fight the entire empire alone.” Keith said. “Let us help you.”

“Karkat…” A kinder sounding, more feminine voice began” Perhaps we should hear them out.”

“Fef, no.” Another voice said anxiously.

“How many of you are there?” Keith asked.

“There’s twelve of us.” The first voice said as the black lion slowed it’s pace and Dave slowed down to glide alongside it. “Hold on.” He added before cutting the transmission.

The castle caught back up to the lions and flew behind them for a few minutes before the transmission came back.

“Okay.” The voice said. “We’re going to trust you… For now. But the second we get bad vibes we’re out.”

“Okay.” Keith said. “Our red lion will show you to your hanger. We’ll come down and meet you there.”

“Okay.” The voice said before ending the transmission and following Dave to the black lions hanger before Dave broke off to go to his own hanger.

Dave headed to the black lion’s hanger once he was inside with Lance telling him how to get there on the coms while everyone else headed there from the bridge.

Dave got there first and waited outside the door before going in with the others.

When they walked in, the lion knelt down to let out its passengers and twelve alternian trolls walked out of its mouth.

Keith led the others over to the lion and the trolls stopped and looked them over.

“I’m Keith.” Keith said. “This is Lance, Rolo, Dave, John, Jade, and Rose. Welcome to the castle of lions.”

The trolls stared at him for a moment before they all seemed to look towards a short troll in the front.

“I’m Karkat.” The short troll said, his voice revealing him as the one they had spoken to before. “This is Sollux, Nepeta, Terezi, Kanaya, Eridan, Tavros, Feferi, Aradia, Vriska, Gamzee, and Equius.”

“You’re the paladin of the black lion?” Keith asked.

“What’s a paladin?” Karkat asked.

“The pilot.” Keith said.

“Yeah. I’m the pilot.” Karkat said.

“How’d you get it?” Lance asked. “Like where’d you find it? How long have you had it?”

“It just landed outside my hive the day before I was supposed to be examined and shipped off-planet.” Karkat said. “Or examined and culled.” He added. “That was about a half a sweep ago.”

“What’s a sweep?” John asked.

“It’s a little over two Earth years.” Rolo said.

“So what made you decide to trust us?” Dave asked.

“We took a vote.” Karkat said. “Seven against four.”

“That’s only eleven votes though.” John said. “There’s twelve of you.”

“And I didn’t vote, shit for brains.” Karkat said. “If all of us voted there would have been potential for a draw.”

“Okay, jeeze.” John said. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Terezi spoke up. “That’s just how Karkat is with everyone. He’s kind of a rude little goblin.”

“Shut up.” Karkat huffed.

Sollux groaned. “I’m not gonna have to listen to you two bicker again, am I? Like, I’m sick of your vacillating! Pick a quadrant already!” He exclaimed in frustration.

Terezi groaned and Karkat threw his hands up.

“Look!” Karkat exclaimed as he looked at Keith. “We’re a bunch of dysfunctional losers. I don’t know that we can help you.” He said. “We’ve been fighting the Condesce for a half a sweep and we’ve barely done anything.”

“That’s because you didn’t have Voltron.” Keith said.

“Yeah, what exactly is that?” Tavros asked.

“It’s this big awesome robot!” John said. “It’s like a legend on Earth! Five pilots called paladins come together to form this giant mythical robo-guy and fight the evils of the universe!”

Karkat groaned. “So you’re relying on a mythological figure to save the universe?” He asked. “Just great! I’m sure this won’t be a gigantic waste of time or anything!”

“A giant robot man, you say?” Equius asked. “May I see it? Show it to me.”

“We could show it to you if your leader would be willing to help us out.” Rolo said.

Vriska laughed a little. “Karkat is  **so** not our leader!” She scoffed. “He’s one tantrum away from reverting back to a full-on wiggler!”

Karkat growled a little under his breath but didn’t say anything in response.

“Whether you accept it or not, the black lion will only let a born leader command it.” Keith said.

Kanaya placed a hand on Karkat’s shoulder but didn’t say anything and Terezi shrugged.

“I mean it makes a little sense if you think about it.” Terezi said. “I mean, I don’t get how a ship can choose who flies it but I’m pretty sure your ancestor was the-” She was cut off by Karkat's irritated groan.

“For the last fucking time! Fated ancestors are not real! And even if they were, the sufferer was not my ancestor!” Karkat exclaimed in a rage.

“Yeah because the only other red-blooded mutant in the history of Alternia couldn’t possibly be the ancestor of the only known living mutant!” Vriska scoffed sarcastically.

“Oh please!” Karkat huffed. “He was not the ONLY red-blooded mutant to ever exist! And how fucking dare you talk about my blood color in front of complete fucking strangers!” He practically screeched. “I should have never told you people what color my blood fucking was!”

“It’s not like you really had a choice, my best bro.” Gamzee said, referring to the fact that the other trolls only knew Karkat’s blood color due to the fact that he was once stabbed in front of them.

“Karkitty, I don’t think these strangers care about your blood color.” Nepeta attempted to reassure him.

“Well I don’t care that they don’t care!” Karkat exclaimed. “It’s a matter of common fucking sense that you don’t just blurt out someone’s fucking blood color in front of people!”

“Oh would you calm down?” Sollux sighed. “You’re giving me a damn migraine.”

“You always have a migraine, you honey sucking fuckhead!” Karkat exclaimed.

Eridan groaned in annoyance but didn’t say anything and Feferi place a hand on his arm.

“Okay…” Lance said. “You guys need to like… Chill…”

“Totally.” Dave agreed. “You people need some serious fucking vacation time to relax for a while.” He said. “Clearly being stuck in a lion hurtling through space for like a year or some shit has made you all hostile assholes.”

Terezi sighed. “Unfortunately, no. This is exactly the way they were before we left Alternia…” She said.

“Oh.” Dave said. “Well still. Some chill time might do you some fucking good.”

“We’ve got a pool here if you wanna chill for a while or something but I gotta warn you that the pool is upside down.” Lance said. “Pretty hard to get into but once you figure it out it’s pretty awesome.”

“How could a pool be upside down?” Kanaya asked.

“It’s on the ceiling.” Keith sighed. “I hate that pool.” He paused. “Anyway… You twelve can stay here as long as you want. We have food and rooms and we could really use your help in the fight against the empress.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Karkat said. “Voltron, blah blah, right?”

“Pretty much.” Lance said.

Karkat sighed and looked down at his feet. “Well… We’ll try to help you… But I’m not promising anything and I’m not a leader.” He said.

Keith nodded, knowing that Karkat might need time to come to terms with his role as a leader. “You don’t have to be.” He said. “Not immediately anyway.”

Karkat looked up at Keith. “Not ever.” He said.

“Okay.” Keith said. “Not ever.” He paused. “But the black lion wouldn’t have chosen you if you didn’t have the ability to do it.”

Karkat lowered his eyebrows. “What do you mean it chose me?” He asked. “How does a ship choose someone to fly it?”

“It’s made out a magic commit.” Lance said, putting a hand up. “It’s a long story.” He said.

Karkat nodded a little and there was a moment of silence between everyone in the room.

“So… Uh…” Tavros started. “You said there was food here?” He asked.

“Yeah!” Jade smiled. “Are you hungry?”

Tavros smiled a little. “Yeah, uh… We haven’t really eaten much in um… A while… Trying to make it all last, you know?”

“We have plenty.” Keith said.

“Yeah! Come on.” John said with a smile. “I’ll show you the kitchen!”

John began walking to the door of the hanger but the trolls were hesitant to follow, each looking at each other for a moment.

“Come on!” Jade smiled and followed John.

Dave, Rose, Rolo, Keith, and Lance followed their crew members and after a moment, the trolls followed along with them.

The group of nineteen all went into the kitchen and it was a bit crowded. Rolo decided to excuse himself and head to the dining room to finish his food and Lance did the same, though Keith was a little hesitant about leaving their twelve seemingly angry and hostile guests alone.

“So yeah! This is our kitchen!” John announced.

“No shit…” Karkat huffed.

Jade walked over to one of the refrigeration units and opened it up. “Oh neat!” She smiled. “Someone stocked us up with frozen pizzas!”

“That was Lance.” Keith said.

“Do you think he would mind if we made some for our guests?” Jade asked.

“Go for it.” Keith said. “I’m sure he has more hidden away somewhere.” He added before walking over to lean against the counter.

Jade took out four boxes of pizza. “Is everyone okay with pepperoni?” She asked.

“You see any pineapple pizzas in there?” Dave asked.

Jade closed the refrigeration unit and held the four pepperoni pizzas under her arm as she looked at Dave with a knowing expression. “Dave, we all know you just pretend to like pineapple pizza for the irony of it.” She said.

Dave shrugged a little. “Maybe I just like that sweet, sweet taste of fruit.” He said.

“Technically tomato is a fruit and therefore all pizza has fruit on it.” Rose informed with a sly smile.

“No.” John said with a smile. “Just no.”

“Can you hand me some pizza pans?” Jade asked and Dave glanced around.

“Sorry. I don’t know where we keep them.” Dave said.

Keith let out a breath and walked over to one of the counters, leaning down and pulling a drawer open to pull out a couple of pizza pans before handing them to Rose to hand to Jade.

Jade took the pans and placed them on the counter before putting down the pizza boxes and beginning to unpack them.

Dave walked over and turned on what he assumed was the oven and Keith sighed before walking over and turning it off and turning on a separate appliance.

“This is the oven.” Keith said. “That’s the dishwasher.” He added, gesturing to the appliance Dave had turned on.

“Doesn’t look like any dishwasher I’ve seen.” Dave said.

“It’s altean.” Keith said before walking back over to stand at the counter.

“What’s altean?” Aradia asked.

“It’s obviously a species of alien.” Sollux said, seemingly less rude than when he spoke to Karkat.

“Yeah.” Keith said. “Lance is part altean. That’s why he has markings on his face.”

“And what, may I ask, are you?” Kanaya asked.

“I’m part human, part galra.” Keith said. “These four are all human as far as I know, Lance is part human, and to be totally honest, I have no idea was species of alien Rolo is but I’m pretty sure he’s the last of his people.” He paused. “I take it that you’re all alternian trolls?”

“Yes.” Nepeta smiled. “But we are not like the others that the evil empurruss commands.” She added.

Dave raised an eyebrow. “Empurruss?” He asked.

“She’s obsessed with meowbeast puns.” Karkat grumbled. “Don’t ask.”

“Meowbeast?” Dave asked.

“I believe they are referring to their people’s equivalent to a cat.” Rose said.

“What’s a cat?” Nepeta asked.

Rose pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pulled up a photo of Jaspers, her dearly departed cat. She then showed it to Nepeta and Nepeta’s jaw dropped a little as she grinned.

“Oh!” Nepeta exclaimed. “She’s so tiny!” She smiled with adoration in her eyes.

Rose smiled. “Yes. A lot of our human cats are small.” She said before pocketing her phone.

“Do you have more pictures of cats?” Nepeta asked.

“I can look some up and send them to you later.” Rose offered.

“Yes! That would be purrfect!” Nepeta smiled and looked up at Karkat, as she was the only one shorter than him. “Did you see the picture of the tiny meowbeast?” She asked excitedly.

“No but I don’t care.” Karkat said as Jade put the pizzas in the oven.

Jade turned around and looked at the trolls. “So why do you all have zodiacs on your shirts?” She asked kindly.

“What’s a zodiac?” Feferi asked.

“It’s like, a super lame symbol you get on Earth depending on your birthday.” Dave said. “Earth has twelve of them, they are supposed to say something about your personality based on your birth month but they’re actually total horseshit.”

“Trolls are assigned a sign to wear at birth.” Kanaya said. “They have nothing to do with our wriggling days though and we as a species have over two-hundred signs.”

“Well you’re all wearing the human zodiac signs.” Dave said.

“That is an interesting coincidence.” Kanaya said.

“Man,” John said with a smile. “I don’t even know the human zodiacs and we only have twelve. I can’t imagine learning over two-hundred!”

Karkat groaned. “If you were a troll you wouldn’t learn all the different signs. You would just learn yours.” He said in an annoyed tone.

“Well I guess that would make it easier.” John smiled. “Or not considering I don’t even know my zodiac.” He laughed a little.

“You’re an aries.” Dave said.

“I thought you said zodiacs were lame?” Jade asked. “Why do you know what John’s is?”

“I don’t know. I guess I googled it at some point or something and it stuck in my head.” Dave said. “Why am I being put on motherfucking trial? It’s not like I know everyone’s signs.”

Jade just shrugged and Dave stared at her for a second before looking back to the trolls.

“So yeah, anyway… Signs on Earth are just bullshit pseudoscience.” He said.

“Well on our planet it’s a little more complicated.” Terezi said. “But I doubt a human would understand.” She added.

“Yeah probably not.” Dave said, wanting to leave this topic behind.

There was a silence between them before Keith decided to leave and rejoin Lance and Rolo in the dining room.

He walked in to find Lance and Rolo finishing up their food and sat down at his seat.

Lance looked at him for a moment. “You okay, Keith?” He asked.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked.

“I just thought you might be feeling a little let down by the whole thing with the black lion choosing a new paladin.” Lance said.

Keith thought for a moment before he shrugged. “The lions know what’s best.” He said. “Besides, I’m still technically the leader since the new kid doesn’t want the job.” He paused. “I don’t want to push him too hard and end up pushing him away from it all.”

Lance nodded. “Maybe he’ll change his mind once he gets to know the other paladins.” He said. “Or maybe it’ll be like it was with you and Shiro when you were piloting the black lion and Shiro was still the leader.”

“Yeah maybe.” Keith said.


	4. Chapter 4

Later that night, everyone was given a room and a tour of the castle by Lance, and in the morning, Lance made a large amount of waffles with Rolo’s help before sending a wake-up call to everyone’s rooms and pulling out a few extra chairs for the dining room table.

The first to the table was Keith who had taken the time to get dressed for the day before coming out, though Lance was still in his pajamas and his robe as well as his blue lion slippers. 

The next out were the human paladins, each of them in their pajamas, with John wearing shorts and a blue t-shirt, Rose wearing a nice lavender nightgown, Jade wearing a black tank-top, white shorts, and rainbow toe-socks, and Dave wearing plaid red pajama pants and his usual white and red record t-shirt.

After a few minutes, Kanaya gracefully walked in, fully dressed and with her hair styled for the day, and soon after, Nepeta and Equius walked in, both dressed for the day as well. Aradia, Tavros, Sollux, Terezi, Vriska, and Gamzee all came out in their pajamas before Feferi walking in with Eridan. Feferi was in her pajamas but Eridan was fully dressed with his cape and scarf present.

The last to find his way to the kitchen was Karkat who was wearing black shorts and his normal shirt. His hair was a mess of tangles and the bags under his eyes gave him the appearance that her perhaps did not sleep at all.

Karkat plopped down in-between Sollux and Eridan and picked up his fork, not saying a word to anyone before he began shoveling food into his mouth.

“You look like shit, Kk.” Sollux said between bites of waffle.

“Yeah well you suck.” Karkat grumbled.

“Oh nice one.” Sollux mocked. “I’ll be feeling that burn for sweeps.”

Karkat groaned in annoyance but didn’t say anything.

“So like,” Dave started. “Are you guys always cranky assholes? Is that like a general troll thing?” He asked.

“I do not think it is what all of us are like.” Nepeta smiled. “I like to think I am not cranky troll.”

“Karkat and Sollux are just… In general, very unhappy people.” Kanaya said before politely cutting her food into small pieces to eat it.

There was a moment of silence before Keith spoke up. “Is everyone ready to train today?” He asked.

“Train?” Karkat asked.

“Yes.” Keith said. “You’ll need to bond with your lion and the other paladins if you ever want to form Voltron.”

“No offense,” Karkat grumbled. “But I’m not so good at ‘bonding’ with people. Or things.” He said.

“Then it might take a little longer, but that’s all the more reason to get a head start on it.” Keith said.

Karkat just shrugged.

Once breakfast was over, Rolo and Lance began washing up the dishes with Feferi, Nepeta, Aradia, Tavros, and Kanaya’s help while Keith and the paladins headed to the training deck.

Keith got five neuro-link devices and gave them to the paladins once he got everyone to sit in a circle together.

Keith proceeded to explain that the purpose of the neuro-link between the paladins is to learn to clear your mind and come together for a common goal. He then told them to clear their mind and focus on forming Voltron.

“I don’t even know what this thing looks like.” Karkat complained with a bad attitude. “How am I even supposed to think about forming it?” He asked.

Keith sighed and pulled out his wallet before pulling out an incredibly old and wrinkly photo of himself and Shiro standing in front of Voltron. The photo was taken by Coran and it was framed so that the camera was looking up from near Keith and Shiro’s feet in order to get all of Voltron in the frame while keeping the paladins in as well.

Keith handed it to Karkat. “It looks like this.” He said.

Karkat stared at it for a moment before handing it back to Keith. “Looks dumb.” He said.

Keith took in a breath and put the old photo back into his wallet, pocketing it. “Focus.” He said.

Karkat rolled his eyes and huffed out an angry puff of air before looking at the others. The others closed their eyes and Karkat did the same.

Dave’s first thought was of himself and John on the day that they got accepted into the Galaxy Garrison which was also the first day they had met in-person. John’s first thought was of his father. Rose’s first thought was of her childhood home. Jade’s first thought was of Dave. Karkat’s first thought was of Alternia.

“Now, focus on your lions.” Keith said.

The five attempted to focus on their lions but Dave’s memories continued to cycle through his and John’s friendship.

John opened one eye as he felt Dave’s mind faltering. He looked at his friend, causing his own mind to break focus.

“Dave, come on, man.” John smiled, opening his other eye. “I get that you’re totally in love with me and all that like a big gay,” He joked sarcastically. “But could you maybe not think about me for five minutes.”

Dave opened his eyes and looked at John. “I wasn’t thinking about you.” He said, looking at Rose. “Rose was rooting around in my head.”

“I was not, actually.” Rose said.

Dave looked at Jade.

“It wasn’t me.” She said.

Dave than looked at Karkat.

Karkat shrugged. “What?” He asked. “I’m supposed to be bonding with you fools.” He said.

“Invading my privacy is not a bonding exercise.” Dave said.

“Look,” Keith said. “It may not be comfortable at first, but you really should give your fellow paladins access to your mind. Or at least a portion of it. You need to trust each other completely, which means trusting each other with your memories and your thoughts.”

Dave let out a breath of irritation, though he tried to play it cool and just shrugged. “Whatever.” He said, closing his eyes again.

Everyone else followed in closing their eyes and began thinking about their lions.

Dave’s mind continued to wave through memories of himself and John before fading into the memories of his bro.

“Dammit!” Dave exclaimed, breaking everyone’s focus. “This isn’t okay!” He said, breaking his cool exterior for a moment, as he didn’t want his thoughts about John to be exposed to his friends and he didn’t want his friends to know about the harsh reality of the way he grew up.

Everyone opened their eyes and stared at him before he put his mask of chill back over his expression. “I mean, like, what’s the deal here?” He asked. “Why is everyone running through my brain like a fucking unsupervised toddler?”

“You can look inside my brain.” Jade offered, somewhat hoping he would so that she wouldn’t need to confess her feelings for him later.

“I don’t want to look in your brain.” Dave said. “It’s probably just filled with furry porn and guns. The point I’m trying to make though is that I don’t want people needlessly ripping around in my massive brain.”

“Why, Dave,” Rose let a sly smile grace her face. “Are you trying to hide something?” She teased.

“No.” Dave lied. “I just think my privacy should be fucking respected.” He said.

“Why are you so sensitive about this?” Karkat asked. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I’m not being sensitive.” Dave said. “I’m just asking you to respect a boundary. Rooting around in my head makes me uncomfortable and I’m asking all of you to stop.”

“Well than I won’t do it anymore but that’s not what I was talking about.” Karkat grumped. “I meant why are you so fucking emotionally wrecked over the idea of being with a-” He was cut off.

“You finish that sentence and I swear I’ll cut your tongue out.” Dave said, threatening to break his cool exterior once again.

“Don’t you think that is a bit of an overly violent thing to say?” Rose asked.

“Maybe.” Dave said. “But if it gets him to shut the fuck up about something that isn’t any of his goddamn business, I’m okay with looking a little violent.”

Karkat groaned. “Are all you humans like this?” He asked. “So insecure about things that are completely normal?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Dave said. “It’s none of your fucking business. My thoughts and my memories and the things I keep locked away in my brain are none of your fucking business.”

“Fine. Whatever.” Karkat grumbled. “I’ll never mention it again. Just stop being so stupid.”

“I don’t get it.” John said. “I didn’t see anything in your head.”

“You clearly weren’t looking hard enough, dipshit.” Karkat said.

“Shut the fuck up.” Dave said.

“Guys…” Keith said. “Put it aside and focus. Don’t try to pry into each others lives. Just relax. You can choose what to let everyone see and what to keep hidden. If someone wants to keep something hidden, trust that there’s a reason and don't press it.”

“Whatever.” Karkat said, closing his eyes again with everyone else following suit.

The five of them managed to stop rummaging through each others heads long enough to form their lions and pull them together. They began assembling Voltron and managed to put all the pieces together.

“Now move as one unit.” Keith said. “Work together to keep Voltron together while moving around.”

Voltron was instantly pulled apart when everyone decided to go in different directions.

“Goddamn it, John.” Dave said.

“What? That was everyone’s fault, not mine.” John said.

Dave sighed and readjusted to sit with his legs laying out instead of having them folded in.

“Try again.” Keith said.

* * *

After a couple of hours of failed attempts, Keith let the paladins take a break and Dave and John walked together into a room with a circular couch which Dave had nicknamed the rec room.

The two of them sat together and John pulled out his phone, forgetting that there would be no cell service in space.

Dave looked at John and smiled a little. He had been trying to ignore the feelings that he had been harboring towards his best friend, after all he was completely sure that they were both straight, but what’s wrong with a little strange attraction to an aesthetically pleasing face? Dave caught himself and shook it off, looking over to the other side of the couch and staring at the cushions as a way of not looking at John.

John sighed as he put his phone away. “I miss my dad, dude.” He said.

“You just talked to him yesterday.” Dave said, still trying not to look at his best friend.

“Yeah but I normally talk to him everyday.” John said. “Sometimes more than once a day.”

Dave rolled his eyes underneath his shades. “You’re such a daddy’s boy.” He said.

John smiled his goofy grin. “So what if I am?” He asked. “I love my dad.” He said. “I mean, he might not be your super awesome bro but he’s still really cool.”

Dave tried not to think about his bro. “I can’t really judge your dad’s coolness. I’ve never met him.” He said.

“Yeah you have.” John said. “You met him the day we met at the Garrison.”

“Oh.” Dave said. “Right, the guy with the cake.”

“Yeah.” John sighed. “He’s always trying to get me to eat more cakes. I don’t know what it is with him and cake though.”

Dave shrugged. “He probably just wants you to be happy.”

“Yeah, probably.” John smiled.

There was a pause between them, though not awkward, before John looked over at Dave, still smiling, though holding a look of concern in his eyes.

“So, Dave,” He said. “I know you said you didn’t wanna talk about stuff yet but are you sure I can’t do anything to help?” He asked.

Dave let out a breath. “Yeah, dude, don’t worry about it.” He said.

John shrugged. “Okay. It just seems like whatever it is that you don't want people to know about is really bugging you and I want you to know I’m here for you if you need me.”

“Thanks.” Dave said. “You cheesy, goofy bastard.” He added.

John grinned as Karkat walked in the room with Nepeta following him.

Dave’s mood instantly dropped, knowing that Karkat knew he was secretly attracted to his best friend and could out him any time he felt like it.

Karkat sat down on the opposite side of the couch and groaned as Nepeta attempted to shove the cell phone she was holding into his face to show him pictures of cats that Rose had on said phone and had let Nepeta borrow.

“I’m gonna go find Rose.” Dave said, not wanting to hang out with Karkat.

“Okay.” John smiled and watched Dave leave before looking at Karkat and Nepeta. “So what’s up with you guys?” He asked.

“What do you mean, what’s up with us?” Karkat grumped.

“Like what are you up to?” John smiled.

“None of your business, frankly.” Karkat said.

John frowned. “Man, why are you so rude?” He asked. “I’m trying to be nice and get to know you.”

“I could care less about getting to know you, human John.” Karkat huffed.

“I mean, we’re supposed to bond if we’re going to be a great team.” John said.

Karkat groaned and tried to ignore John.

Nepeta smiled at John before smiling at Karkat. “Karkitty, if you’re gonna be a leader, you need to be nice to the people you’re purrsuading to follow you.” She said.

“I’m not a fucking leader!” Karkat grumped.

“You could be though.” Nepeta smiled. “I believe in you.” She said.

Karkat secretly appreciated her saying that but wasn’t about to admit to that. “Than you’re an idiot.” He said.

“That’s not nice.” John said. “She was just paying you a compliment.” He added. “And she could be right. I don’t know you very well but I’m betting you have some potential in you.” He tried to be nice.

“Well you’re an idiot too.” Karkat said. “You’re both idiots. Why don’t you two get together and make an idiot sandwich. Put Dave in the middle. He’s an idiot too.”

“No man, Dave is like, the coolest dude ever.” John said. “He’s super awesome and super smart. He’s not an idiot.” He insisted. “I mean, sometimes I’ll tell him that he’s dumb to rag on him but he’s actually just really cool.”

“Maybe you should just date him if he’s so special.” Karkat grumped.

“What?” John asked. “No, man. I’m not a homosexual.”

“What the everliving  **fuck** is a homosexual?” Karkat asked.

“You know,” John said. “When a boy likes a boy or like when a girl likes a girl.”

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Your species has a word for that?” He asked.

“Yeah.” John said. “Yours doesn’t?”

“No. We don’t have a word for that because it’s a moronic concept.” Karkat said. “Having a word for that wouldn’t even occur to us because gender isn’t some weird issue for us.”

“So… You’re gay?” John asked.

“What the fuck is gay?” Karkat asked.

“It’s another word for homosexual.” John explained.

“Than yeah. I guess I’m pretty gay considering that I don’t give a single shit about what gender I’m attracted to ‘cause I’m not a dumb fucked up stupid human.” Karkat said.

John giggled a little. “That’s so gay.” He said.

“Yeah that’s what I just fucking said. That was kind of the point.” Karkat grumbled.

“No I meant like, you’re so dumb.” John smiled.

Karkat’s face morphed to one of confusion and mild disgust. “Gay means dumb?” He asked. “Why would you say gay interchangeably for dumb and homosexual? That doesn’t make any goddamn sense!” He exclaimed. “You know what, no! I’m done talking to you! You’re an idiot!” He added, getting up and leaving.

* * *

Dave wondered around the corridors before finding Rose, Jade, Kanaya, Feferi, Eridan, and Tavros sitting underneath the castles pool while Kanaya and Jade painted Tavros and Feferi’s nails.

“Nail painting, huh?” Dave asked, looking at Tavros. “That’s pretty gay, dude.” He said.

“I’m sure you would know all about that.” Rose said with a sly grin.

Dave frowned. “Why is everyone calling me gay all the sudden? Like I get that you’re joking but I’m really not gay so I don’t know why everyone keeps saying that shit.” He rambled.

“No one meant it like that.” Jade smiled. “We’re just kidding around with you.”

“Yeah I know.” Dave said before he plopped down on the floor in-between Jade and Rose. “So speaking of me,” He continued. “Did either of you see anything in my brain? Like, you didn’t see anything private did you?” He asked.

“I know nothing more about you now than I did before.” Rose said. “Though that’s not to say I didn’t learn anything from our mind melding experience. Though confirming suspicions would be a more accurate way of describing said experience.” She added.

Dave stared at her for a moment with narrowed eyes. “Whatever you saw, keep it to yourself.” He said.

“Your semi-transparent secrets are safe with me, Dave.” Rose said.

Jade shrugged. “I didn’t see anything. Except I saw a memory of you sleeping on the roof of your old apartment for some reason.” She said.

Dave let out a breath. “Well don’t tell anyone about that either.” He said.

“Okay.” Jade smiled.

“Okay.” Dave said. “Everybody just keep their goddamn mouths shut about my personal history and we won’t have a problem.” He paused. “So anyway… What’s with the nail painting party?” He asked.

“Kanaya, Jade, and I decided that Tavros’s plain black wardrobe needed a splash of color.” Rose said. “That simply turned into a nail painting party for everyone.” She smiled.

Eridan was currently blowing air onto his freshly painted purple nails as Rose put away the nail polish she had used on him and Dave smiled a little.

“Are you guys seriously okay with a couple of girls painting your nails?” Dave asked.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Eridan asked in-between breaths.

“Well I don’t know if it’s different on your planet but on Earth nail polish if pretty much just for girls.” Dave said.

Eridan raised an eyebrow at him in mild confusion. “In our society it’s for high-bloods. Along with make-up and a sense of fashion.” He said.

“Yeah, uh…” Tavros said. “I feel a little weird putting it on.”

Dave ignored Tavros and looked at Eridan. “Wait are you wearing make-up right now?” He asked.

“Of fucking course I’m wearing make-up.” Eridan said. “I would never exit my respiteblock without make-up.”

Dave let out a small puff of air as a laugh. “Seriously?” He asked. “I would literally rather die than wear make-up.”

“Than you’re weak and inferior.” Eridan said.

Dave raised his eyebrows. “Wow, okay, rude. I’m the raddest dude you’re ever gonna know but whatever.” He said.

Kanaya finished painting Feferi’s nails and Feferi began blowing on them.

“By the way, Fef,” Eridan said, looking at her and ignoring Dave. “I need my skirt back. I’ll be wearing it tomorrow.”

“Okay!” Feferi smiled.

“Whoa!” Dave said. “You wear skirts?!”

Eridan looked at him. “Yes. Is that a concept your small human mind has issues grasping?” He asked.

Dave shrugged a little. “Is that like another cultural thing? Like whatever a high-blood is wears skirts?” He asked.

“No.” Eridan said. “People who want to wear skirts wear skirts.”

“So you’re just gay or something?” Dave asked.

“I’m assuming that’s a human specific word?” Eridan asked.

“Yeah.” Dave said.

“It means a boy who is romantically or sexually interested in other boys or girls who are interested in girls.” Rose explained. “The scientific term is to be a homosexual. Heterosexual, or being straight, refers to people who are attracted to people of the opposite gender to themselves. There is also bisexuality which means attraction to two differing genders, as well as panse-” She was cut off.

“There’s a lot of bullshit terms for a lot of bullshit attraction types.” Dave said.

Eridan and Feferi looked at each other before looking back to the humans.

“Why would you have words for all of that?” Feferi asked.

“So that everyone will have a title for their sexual orientation as well as their romantic orientation.” Rose said. "We also have many words for differing gender identities as well."

“Our gender system on Alternia is very fluid and therefore our sexual and romantic orientations tend to simply be, whoever we desire based on personality alone.” Kanaya said.

“So y’all’re gay.” Dave said.

“I suppose to a certain degree, yes.” Kayana said.

“I would be interested to hear about your knowledge on alternian gender topics sometime if you would be interested in educating me.” Rose said to Kanaya.

“I would enjoy that.” Kanaya said.

“Easy there, Rose.” Dave teased. “The alien might make you gay.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay, Dave.” Rose said.

“Are you gay?” Dave asked.

“Are you?” Rose countered.

“Obviously not.” Dave said before a pause. “Anyway… I’m going to leave y’all to be gay alone.” He added as he stood up and walked out.

Dave was walking down the hallway when he heard someone walking behind him and glanced back to see Rose. He stopped walking and looked at her. “Hey.” He said.

“Hey.” Rose said. “All joking aside, do you need to talk about it?” She asked.

“No.” Dave said. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not… Like that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it if you are.” Rose said.

“Yeah but I’m not so there’s nothing to talk about.” Dave said.

“Dave…” Rose said. “I’m a lesbian.” She confessed. “You can talk about this with me.”

“Wait, you’re seriously gay?” Dave asked in a low voice.

“Yes.” Rose said. “You are now the only person aside from myself who is aware of it though.” She added.

“Well that’s cool and all but I’m not gay.” Dave said. “I've never been gay, I’m not gay, and I’ll never be gay.”

“And what about your recent attractions to a certain friend?” Rose asked.

“It’s kind of bullshit that you know about that.” Dave said. “That was seriously private and I’m kind of pissed that you even brought it up to be totally honest.”

“I knew about it before the neuro-linking.” Rose said. “It’s painfully obvious to those who actually observe and study the relationships of their friends.”

“I’m not into John, okay…” Dave said. “My brain is just temporarily confused for some reason.”

“Or you aren’t confused and he is exactly what you want.” Rose said.

“No.” Dave said. “And don’t ever fucking tell him any of this.”

“There’s apparently nothing to tell.” Rose said. “But I think you should talk to him about this.” She added.

“Even if there was something to talk to him about, which there isn't, why would I?” Dave asked. “Would he even want to be my friend anymore? I mean, me and him always make fun of things for being gay and shit. He’d probably hate me or something.”

“Do you think he would hate me if he knew I was a lesbian?” Rose asked.

“Well no but that’s different.” Dave said.

“How is that any different?” Rose asked.

“Well ‘cause you’re a girl.” Dave said. “Girls can be gay or whatever but boys can’t.”

“Dave, your logic is incredibly flawed.” Rose said.

“Yeah, I know.” Dave said.

“You are a victim of toxic masculinity.” Rose said.

“Yeah, I know.” Dave repeated.

“So why don’t you attempt to change that?” Rose asked.

Dave just shrugged and looked down at his feet.

“Would you talk to John about this if I were to come out to him first and gauge his reaction?” Rose asked.

“Probably not.” Dave said.

Rose sighed a little as Karkat walked around the corner and attempted to walk around the two humans without engaging with them.

“What’s up, windbag?” Dave said, not actually intending on starting a conversation with him.

“Nothing much, asswipe.” Karkat grumbled. “Have you seen Sollux?” He asked.

“Honestly I don’t even remember which troll that is.” Dave said. “Too many fucking trolls running around here.”

“He’s the one with the dumbfuck shades.” Karkat said. “Kind of like yours except not as stupid as yours.”

“Okay well for one my shades are the coolest shades anyone has ever worn and two, no I haven’t seen him.” Dave said before he walked away and down the hall.

“The last time I saw him was at breakfast.” Rose offered.

Karkat sighed. “Okay.” He said. “Guess I’ll keep looking.”

“Some of the others are in the pool room.” Rose said. “Maybe they’ve seen him.”

Karkat nodded. “The pool room’s that way right?” He asked, pointing the wrong way.

“No. That way.” Rose said, pointing the correct way.

“Right.” Karkat said. “Thanks.” He added as he began walking towards the room.

“Karkat,” Rose called over to him and he stopped and turned around. “You saw things in Dave’s memories, right?” She asked.

“Yeah, why?” Karkat asked.

“Well I feel like perhaps he could use a boy to talk to about it with and you’re the only boy who knows about it.” Rose said.

Karkat’s face contorted to an uncomfortable look. “Uhh… I’m… Not great at sympathizing with people or talking to people in general.” He said. “Also I don’t think he wants to talk about it with anyone regardless of gender. He’s strangely emotionally constipated about your weird human sexuality issues.” He paused. “And honestly, I don’t understand the other things I saw involving his strange human guardian.”

“His relationship with his brother who is actually his father is complicated.” Rose said. “But I don’t think he’s comfortable speaking about that with anyone.”

“Yeah and he’s not comfortable talking about the other stuff either.” Karkat said. “Also I don’t think I care that much about his dumb issues.”

“I really think he could benefit from someone caring for him.” Rose said. “He knows I care and he knows now that I would never judge him for what he has been feeling lately, but I just don’t believe he will be comfortable confiding in a girl about his issues, as he seems to think our experiences and what is deemed acceptable for a woman, isn’t the same for a man.”

Karkat groaned a little. “Look I get that and everything but… I’m really not a social person. I don’t get along with other people and I’m not good at helping people with their problems. If anything I’ll just make it worse.”

Rose was silent for a moment but nodded. “I apologize if I made you uncomfortable with my proposal.” She said. “But if you ever feel that the opportunity to speak to him about it arises and you are comfortable with it, I do encourage it.” She added before smiling at him a little and leading him to the pool room.


	5. Chapter 5

Dave headed to the kitchen to see if they had any apple juice and was happy to see that no one was in the room. He went through every refrigeration unit they had and as he searched but was only able to find some fruit punch juice. He sighed and grabbed one of the juice packs before closing the fridge and walking over to lean against the counter. After a minute, he noticed the top of Nepeta’s head rise up above the opposite countertop, just enough to look at Dave and he could tell she was smiling by the curvature of cheeks underneath her eyes.

“AC silently but playfully stalks her purrey.” Nepeta grinned.

“What?” Dave asked.

Nepeta rose a little higher above the counter so that Dave could see her smile. “AC purrs and invites her new friend to play with her.” She continued.

“Are you roleplaying?” Dave asked. “‘Cause that’s super lame.” He said.

Nepeta frowned, putting on her sad, big eyed expression that was so hard to say no to.

“Damn, okay.” Dave said. “Uh… Dave sips his not aj in disappointment and offers some to the weird cat girl.” He played along.

Nepeta smiled and walked around the counter, holding out her hand. “AC accepts the juicy drink and shares it with her new friend.” She said.

Dave handed her the juice pack and let her drink from it before she handed it back. “Dave says ‘cool.’” He said.

“AC smiles and asks if Dave would like to come draw with her because she’s heard that he likes to draw and she thinks it would be a fun way to get to know him.” Nepeta said.

Dave nodded a little. “Dave says ‘sure.’” He said.

Nepeta smiled wide and took Dave’s free hand to lead him back to the rec room where she had her computer and art tablet set out on the floor.

She pulled him over and sat down on the floor with him.

“So what’s up with the roleplaying junk?” Dave asked. “Is that some weird cultural thing that I won’t understand?”

“No.” Nepeta smiled as she pulled an art program up on her computer and plugged her tablet in. “I just like it. I think it’s fun.” She said.

Dave shrugged his eyebrows. “You do you, I guess.” He said. “So I’m guessing you’re a huge fan of drawing cats and that’s pretty much all you draw, right?” He asked.

“Noooo.” Nepeta smiled. “I draw lots of things!”

“Like what?” Dave asked.

“Like my friends.” Nepeta smiled. “And I LOVE to draw my ships!”

“Your ships?” Dave asked. “Oh god, you’re not some weird fandom chick are you?” He asked. “Wasting all your time shipping two fictional characters together is such a waste of time.”

“No.” Nepeta said. “I ship my friends together.”

“Oh… That might actually be weirder.” He said.

Nepeta shook her head and started drawing one of the other trolls.

“Who’s that?” Dave asked.

“Equius!” Nepeta said. “He’s my moirail.”

“What’s a moirail?” Dave asked.

“Like a pale romantic partner.” Nepeta said, thinking it was weird that Dave wouldn’t know that.

“Oh so he’s like your boyfriend?” He asked.

“What’s a boyfriend?” Nepeta asked.

“Like when two people date there’s a boyfriend and a girlfriend.” Dave said. “Or two boyfriends or two girlfriends for some people… Not me but some people.” He felt compelled to add.

Nepeta shook her head and opened up a new drawing tab, drawing the four quadrants in it and showing it to Dave. “We have more than one romantic partnership.” She said. “There’s moirails, matesprits, kismesises, and auspictices.”

“Uh… Okay.” Dave said. “And these are all romantic?” He asked.

“Yes!” Nepeta said.

“Are they all sexual too?” He asked.

“Matesprits and kismesises have sexual relationships most of the time but moirails and auspictices do not.” Nepeta said.

“Okay.” Dave said. “And you said that moirails are the pale one so that’s… The pink diamond?” He asked.

“Yes!” Nepeta said.

“Cool. What is it though?” He asked.

Nepeta proceeded to explain troll romance to Dave for some time while she drew her ships as an illustration.

“So you ship yourself in a hot and bothered way with the loud bitch?” Dave asked.

Nepeta blushed a little, her cheeks turning a dark green. “Maybe a little.” She smiled.

“Why though?” Dave asked. “He’s kind of an asshole.”

Nepeta frowned a little. “He’s nice sometimes.” She said. “And he’s a lot softer than people think.”

“I mean, whatever you say, but I haven’t seen him be anything but a dick.” Dave said.

Nepeta offered the drawing tablet to Dave and he took it and started drawing before Equius walked into the room.

“Ah, there you are Nepeta.” Equius said. “Come with me.” He added.

“Hey Equius.” Nepeta smiled. “Where are we going?” She asked.

“To my respiteblock.” Equius said. “I require your assistance immediately.”

“Aww, but I’m having fun here.” Nepeta pouted.

“Now, Nepeta. I must speak with you urgently.” Equius said, beginning to sweat a little.

“Is this about Aradia again?” Nepeta asked. “‘Cause I told you that you should purrhaps just talk to her about it.”

“Nepeta, do not disclose the subject matter of our private conversations in front of these humans.” Equius said.

“What? Are you getting all sweaty because you don’t know how to talk to a girl?” Dave asked.

“My perspiration and the causes of it are none of your business.” Equius said.

Nepeta reached over to grab her backpack and pulled a towel out of it, tossing it to her moirail.

“Thank you, Nepeta.” Equius said as he wiped off his forehead.

“Okay, dude. You’re gross.” Dave said.

Equius continued to wipe himself down as he spoke. “Nepeta, what are you doing hanging around this human?” He asked.

“He’s fun and he likes drawing.” Nepeta smiled.

“I like rapping too.” Dave said. “You like rapping?” He asked.

“What’s that?” Nepeta said.

“Like sick verbal beats.” Dave said. “Slam poetry, you know?”

“Poetry?” Equius asked. “You’re inquiring about our interest in poetry?”

“Yeah but like, slam poetry.” Dave said, suddenly regretting bringing it up.

“I have dabbled in poetry.” Equius said.

“Um,” Nepeta started. “Equius, I don’t know if Dave wants to hear your hoofbeast poetry right now… Purrhaps we should go talk about Aradia.” She said, not wanting Dave to have to endure Equius’s poetry yet.

Equius nodded. “Okay.” He said.

“I’ll see you later.” Nepeta smiled at Dave.

“See ya’.” Dave said, watching Nepeta get up and walk away.

Dave left Nepeta a comic about cats on her computer before leaving the room.

* * *

Keith was standing on the bridge and staring out into the open space on the screen in front of him when Lance and Rolo walked in. The two of them appeared to be having a polite and entertaining conversation that died down when they noticed Keith staring off into space.

Lance walked over to Keith and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts. Keith looked at him before looking at Rolo and back to the open space ahead of them. "Do you think you could find an empty or mostly empty planet to settle down on for a little while?" He asked.

"Yeah, man." Lance said. "What's going on?"

"I just wanna do some outside training and I'd rather do it on the ground." Keith said. 

Lance nodded and walked over to his station as Rolo walked to his own which was close to where Keith was standing.

Rolo pressed a couple of buttons on the console before looking at Keith. “You okay?” He asked.

Keith turned around and nodded before walking out of the room.

Rolo looked at Lance as Lance watched after Keith.

“Is he really okay?” Rolo asked.

Lance looked back to Rolo. “He’ll be alright.” He said. “I think he’s just stressed out because he thought this would be easier.” He paused. “I don’t think he was intending on dealing with a bunch of kids who don’t want to work together and open up to each other.”

Rolo nodded and looked back to the screens. “Maybe you should try talking to the new paladins.” He said. “I mean, I like Keith and I think he’s a hell of a leader, but I also think that he may not be the best at getting kids to bond with each other.” He paused. “Maybe the kids need to spend some time with someone who’s a little more chill.”

Lance thought for a moment before he smiled a little. “Yeah maybe.” He said. “I guess I’ll talk to them after Keith finishes his training for the day.”

* * *

Karkat found Sollux sitting alone on the floor in a corridor near the airlock. He was staring at the wall and only looked away from it when Karkat spoke.

“Hey, idiot.” Karkat greeted.

“Hey, dipshit.” Sollux said in reply.

Karkat sat down with him. “Why are you sitting in the hallway?” He asked.

Sollux shrugged. “Fef was supposed to come meet me but she’s about an hour and a half late.” He said, sighing.

“And you’re still waiting?” Karkat asked. “I’d dip out if she was five minutes late.”

Sollux shrugged again. “She said she might be late.” He said. “What are you doing in the hallway?” He asked.

Karkat turned to look at the wall and shrugged a little. “Maybe I just wanted to find someone who could validate some things I’m feeling.” He said, but it sounded more like a question.

“Like what?” Sollux asked.

“Like… I think maybe we should ditch these people.” Karkat said. “I’m not a leader and I’m not gonna become one by training with invisible mazes and neuro-linking crowns…” He paused. “I’m just not meant to do something with this much purpose. Like, when we were just picking fights with the empress's soldiers that was fine ‘cause it wasn’t some big stand against her. It was just us causing trouble and no one was looking to me to lead. And like, that Keith human says he’s not going to make me lead anyone but everything he says to me reeks of leadership training…” He sagged his shoulders and let out a breath as he looked down at the floor. “I just want someone to tell me, ‘hey, it’s cool if you don’t wanna do this, let’s get out of here.’ You know?” He asked.

Sollux stared at him for a moment, not sure if he was done talking yet before he took in a breath and looked at the wall. “Look, Kk…” He started. “I know you want someone to tell you what to do and tell you that you’re justified in wanting to leave but… I don’t think you should skip out on all this.”

“What?” Karkat asked, looking up at his best friend. “I thought… I thought you would be the first person to want to head out.”

Sollux shook his head. “No…” He said. “No, I think we should stay.”

“Why?” Karkat asked.

“I don’t really know how to explain it… I just feel like if we don’t, we’ll be doomed.” Sollux said.

Karkat stared at Sollux for a moment before lowering his eyebrows into his usual cranky expression. “That’s cryptic, nonsensical, and moronic.” He said.

“Whatever.” Sollux said. “That’s my advice.”

“Your advice is stupid.” Karkat grumped.

“Maybe.” Sollux said.

“Well maybe I won’t take your advice.” Karkat huffed. “Maybe I’ll just pack up all our shit and head out tonight. Hell, maybe I’ll go alone. You can be the leader for all I care.”

“Stop being such a pissy wiggler.” Sollux said. “You’re always whining and bitching about everything and no one cares.”

“Yeah well you’re pathetic! You know that?” Karkat grumbled as he stood up. “You’re out here trying to give me some stupid shitty advice when your own life is in fucking shambles!”

Sollux stood up and faced his friend. “Yeah well you’re the idiot who was looking for advice from the guy who apparently sucks SO much!” He exclaimed.

“You know what?! Fuck you!” Karkat exclaimed. “I don’t need your goddamn advice! I don’t need anything from you! You’re a pathetic mess! Sitting out here waiting for a girl who won’t look at you twice unless you’re alone and you think you’re so smart! You can’t even tell when you’re getting stood up!” He fumed before stomping off down the hall and around a corner.

Sollux stared at the empty hall for about a minute and a half before he saw Karkat stomping back over to him.

Karkat stood in front of him for a moment as he looked down at his feet.

“Sorry…” Karkat said quietly. “Are we still friends?” He asked.

“Obviously, you dumb shit.” Sollux said before he gave him a friendly punch to the shoulder and walked away.

* * *

John was sitting in-between Vriska and Terezi in the dining room and he thought that they seemed to be messing with him.

“I’m  **telling** you, John!” Vriska said. “We have plants on Alternia that eat people!”

“Specifically nerds like you.” Terezi smiled. “Nerds taste the best.”

“I really don’t believe you.” John said. “I don’t think a plant could even be big enough to eat someone and I really don’t think they would have a specific taste for a certain type of person based on personality.”

“I have a tiny potted version of this plant in my room.” Terezi said. “Someday it will grow to be huge and I will feed you to it!” She grinned.

“Alright, Seymour.” John huffed out a laugh.

“Seymour?” Terezi asked.

“You know,” John said. “‘Feed me Seymour!’” He imitated before the girls looked at each other in confusion and he sighed. “Little Shop of Horrors?” He asked, as in to ask if they had seen the movie.

Vriska’s eyebrow went up and Terezi shook her head.

“Okay, I’m declaring a movie night.” John said. “No one I’ve talked to today has seen Con-Air, and so far, you guys haven’t seen anything good.”

“Ugh,” Terezi groaned. “You sound like Karkat with your dumb love of stupid movies.”

“Karkat likes movies?” John asked.

“He  **loves** movies.” Vriska said in an annoyed tone.

“Huh, maybe he’s seen some troll version of Con-Air.” John said. “That’d be so sweet.” He grinned.

Before he could say anything else, Keith’s voice came over the com system.

“Paladins.” Keith said. “Get suited up and get to your lions. We’re landing on a deserted planet for some training drills.”

John stood up. “Okay, see you guys later.” He smiled before walking out of the room.

John got dressed in his paladin armor and began walking to his hanger and ran into Jade and Rose on the way there.

“Hey guys.” He smiled as he walked alongside them.

“Hello, John.” Rose said.

“Hey!” Jade grinned.

“Where’s Dave?” John asked.

“Last I knew, he was roaming the halls like a disgruntled spirit.” Rose said.

“Sounds like him lately.” John said. “Did you guys see anything going on with him when we were all hooked up together?” He asked. “Like do you know what’s happening with him? I know Karkat saw something but I don’t really wanna ask him because he’s always kind of pissy.”

“I didn’t see anything.” Jade said.

“I learned nothing more about his inner workings than I already knew.” Rose said.

“Way to give a cryptic answer, Rose.” John said.

Rose just smiled.

“Seriously though.” John said. “I wanna help him and I don’t know how to because he won’t talk to me.”

“I believe that he will speak to you when he is ready to.” Rose said. “I wouldn’t recommend pushing him, though I did advise Karkat to speak with him on the matter, as I think it would help Dave to talk about it and Karkat already knows what is disturbing him as of late.”

“Do you know what’s bugging him?” Jade asked.

“I knew months ago what was occupying his mind.” Rose said. “The melding of minds was not particularly necessary. Observation is the real key to unlocking the depths of his feelings.”

“Well you must be way better at observation than me!” John said. “‘Cause I don’t have a clue what’s going on with him!”

The three of them walked for a couple of minutes before Jade broke off to go to her hanger. As they came up on the hall where John and Rose would split ways, Rose gently took John’s arm.

“John… May I speak to you about something personal once we have completed today’s training?” Rose asked, intending to come out to him.

“Sure thing, Rose.” John smiled.

Rose smiled and let go of his arm so that he could continue down his path. She watched him for a moment before heading to her own hanger.

* * *

Dave was walking a bit slower than usual on the way to his hanger when he turned the corner and saw Karkat and tried not to groan. Karkat stared at him for a moment as they walked next to each other before he let out a breath.

“Your friend wanted me to talk to you about the thing humans refer to as being gay…” Karkat huffed quietly.

“No.” Dave said.

“Okay… Good talk…” Karkat said, speeding up a little to get away from Dave.

Dave watched him for a moment before speeding up to walk beside him again. “Look,” He said. “I don’t want to talk about it but just… Don’t tell anyone…”

“Wasn’t planning on telling anyone.” Karkat said.

“Okay… Good…” Dave said.

“Yeah… I don’t actually want to talk about this with you just so you know.” Karkat said. “Your friend just said that she thought you should talk to someone and that you didn’t want to talk to her and… Yeah…”

Dave didn’t say anything for a moment. “Okay…” He finally let out.

“Okay…” Karkat said. “I do think it’s stupid though…” He said quietly.

“What?” Dave asked.

“I said I think it’s stupid.” Karkat said. “The whole, ‘oh no, I can’t be attracted to a guy’ thing… That’s stupid.”

Dave hesitated. “Are you… Gay?” He asked.

“I guess so.” Karkat said, making it sound like a question. “I mean, on Alternia, gender just doesn’t really matter so we’re all kinda ‘gay’” He added, holding up his fingers for quotation marks.

“Have you like… Been with a dude before?” Dave asked.

Karkat scrunched up his nose a little. “No…” He said. “I haven’t been with anyone…” He admitted.

Dave nodded a little. “Yeah me neither.” He said.

“I mean… I was sort of with Terezi for a while but… It didn’t really work out…” Karkat said. “I don’t even know if I could define what we had as dating in any quadrant… More like intense quadrant vacillation.”

Dave just nodded as the two of them came to where they would break off to their hangers.

Both boys stopped at the fork in the corridor and awkwardly looked at each other for a moment.

“So uh… Yeah…” Karkat said.

“Yup…” Dave said.

Karkat nodded and the two of the stood for a moment before they both went to their separate hangers, feeling awkward.

* * *

Once everyone was in their lions and on the planet's surface, Keith had them fly in formation.

“Okay,” Keith started through the coms. “I’m going to turn on your training helmets which will make you blind. Then you’re going to put your lions into a nosedive.” He paused to turn the training helmets on. “The purpose of this is to see through your lion’s eyes and pull up just before you hit the ground… Okay, go ahead and start.”

The five paladins did as was asked of them and headed into a nosedive.

“Do your best to feel your bond with your lion and feel what they feel.” Keith said.

Each of the paladins continued on a path straight down to the planet’s surface. 

John and Jade did their best to get in touch with their lions while Dave attempted to simply guess when he should pull up. Rose counted the seconds with a guessed estimate of how long it would take to get the the surface while Karkat simply took his helmet off in order to cheat the test.

John, Jade, and Dave all crashed on their first round and Rose and Karkat were honest with the fact that they hadn't really bonded with their beasts for the exercise.

Keith made them do it again, insisting that they needed to do it properly this time.

The five of them proceeded to fail the test over and over again until John was able to bond with his lion and pull up seconds from hitting the ground.

Keith congratulated him but continued to have him and the others repeat the test for hours.

Eventually John and Jade were the only two who were able to save themselves from crashing each time while Rose, Dave, and Karkat had little to no success.

Keith allowed them to take a short break before he set up the castle to test it's defense systems which caused it to fire at the lions.

The paladins spent most of their time running in different directions in order to protect themselves while Keith reminded them to work as a team.

After some time, Keith decided to leave the simulation on and allow his team to find a way to work together to stop it while he went to work out in the training room.

After about an hour, Lance showed up and Keith stopped his training simulation.

“How are the paladins doing?” Keith asked.

Lance shrugged a little. “They’re still running around outside.” He said. “Are you okay?” He asked.

Keith hesitated but nodded before trying to walk past Lance and leave.

Lance held his hand up, placing it on Keith’s chest causing him to stop.

Keith looked at Lance for a moment, there was a level of concern in Lance’s eyes and suddenly Keith felt bad for making him worry. He let out a breath and gently took Lance’s wrist to lower his hand.

Lance withdrew his hand willingly as he realized Keith may not be in the mood to be physically touched.

Keith pushed some of his hair out of his own face and took a step back from Lance. “I’ve just been thinking… What’s going to happen when we’re gone?” He said.

“What do you mean?” Lance asked.

“I mean there’s always some big bad out there who is going to try to take over the universe and we’re not always going to be around to help fight against an empire.” Keith said. “So what happens to the universe once we’re no longer a part of it?”

Lance was quiet for a moment before he smiled a little and shrugged. “We’ll never know.” He said. “But before we head on out, we’ll just have to be sure to leave a peaceful legacy behind and hope that the people who come after us keep it alive.”

“You say that like it’s going to be easy.” Keith sighed.

“No it won’t be easy.” Lance said. “But it’s all we can do, really.” He added. “Just do our best to contribute to an era of peace, and hope that that will be enough.”

Keith stared at Lance for a moment before he let himself smile a little half smile. “When did you grow up and get all wise?” He asked.

Lance smiled. “About fifty years ago I think.” He said.

* * *

The paladins were not at all working together on trying to get the castle’s defense systems down and instead were trying to just avoid being hit with any lasers.

“Hey Karkat,” John said through the coms. “How’s it going sitting behind that tiny rock with your tail between your legs?” He teased.

“Fuck off, Egbert!” Karkat exclaimed. “You’re doing the exact same thing!”

“I have a bigger rock though.” John smiled.

“Size isn’t everything, boys.” Rose said.

“Exactly, Egbert!” Karkat scolded. “At least I know how to use a rock, despite its size!”

“What does that even mean?” John asked. “In what special way are you using the rock?”

“It’s a metaphor jackass.” Karkat grumbled. “The rock is a bulge and I’m better than you at using it.”

“What’s a bulge?” John asked.

“Don’t be an idiot! You know perfectly well what a bulge is!” Karkat exclaimed.

“I don’t though.” John said.

“John, I don’t think this is an important topic of discussion at the moment.” Rose said.

“Well what else are we supposed to talk about?” John asked. “We’re stuck here until Keith gives us mercy.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Jade chimed in.

“Yes, I believe the purpose of this exercise is to turn off the barrier.” Rose said.

“Well how are we supposed to do that?” John asked.

“I assume that forming Voltron is involved in some way.” Rose said.

John sighed. “We can’t form Voltron.” He said.

“We don’t know that for sure!” Jade said. “We haven’t tried.”

Karkat scoffed. “Yeah because we just might be able to if we try **really** hard.” He said sarcastically.

“Well that attitude isn’t very leaderly of you.” John said.

“I’m not the leader, shitstain!” Karkat exclaimed.

“Fine.” John said. “Rose, lead the way.”

“Okay.” Rose said. “We need to get into formation.” She paused. “Everyone follow me.” She added as she began running down a dirt path.

John, Karkat, and Jade followed her and got into formation before realizing that Dave wasn’t with them.

“Where’s Dave?” Jade asked.

“Dave?” John called out.

“Dave!” Karkat exclaimed.

“What?” Came a grumbly reply that sounded half asleep.

“Where are you?!” Karkat asked.

“I’m…” Dave paused. “Behind a rock.” He said.

“Were you sleeping?” John asked.

“Gotta catch up on those z’s where you can, dude.” Dave said before yawning. “What’s going on? What are we doing?”

“Get into formation with us.” Rose said. “We’re going to try and form Voltron.”

“Right.” Dave said, getting up and running out to join them.

The five of them ran together for a moment before Rose spoke up again. “Everyone on Karkat!” She said. “Form Voltron!”

The five of them took off into the sky and tried as hard as they could to force their bond but nothing happened.

“Guys!” Jade said. “It’s not working!”

“I told you!” Karkat scolded.

“Okay.” Rose said. “Everyone back to the ground.”

Everyone pulled back and landed, taking cover once again behind several large stones.

“Okay, what’s your plan B?” John asked.

“Give me a minute to think.” Rose said.

Dave yawned and laid his lion down.

“Don’t go back to sleep!” Karkat scolded. “You’re fucking useless if you’re passed out.”

“Whatever…” Dave said. "It's not like we're really doing anything."

After a moment, all of the firing from the castle ceased and the paladins all looked to each other before Jade took a hesitant step out from behind the rocks.

“Hey guys.” Lance said through the coms. “Come on inside. It’s time for a break.”


	6. Chapter 6

Lance let the paladins change into their everyday outfits before leading them to a secondary recreation room that he had added to the castle’s design plan when it was rebuilt. It had several Earth and Altea gaming systems set up as well as board games and a pool table as well as a foosball table and a table for something that looked like a combination of the two plus having some chess elements which was certainly altean.

“Welcome to the game room.” Lance smiled. “Figured you guys could use some chill time.”

“Nice!” John smiled as he walked over to the original NES console Lance had hooked up.

“You got some Tony Hawk on any of those consoles?” Dave asked.

“Probably.” Lance said. “I had some help hooking them up to a universal piracy system so you can download literally whatever games you want for any of the consoles.”

“That’s illegal.” Dave said with a bit of a smile.

“I’ll pay for them eventually.” Lance smiled.

“John!” Dave said, pointing at his friend. “You and me! Tony Hawk! Now!” He smiled and plopped down on the coach, grabbing a controller and passing it to John before getting his own.

John sat down next to him while Dave searched through the piracy database for any of the Tony Hawk games he liked and Rose wandered over to the board games with Jade following her.

Karkat leaned against the pool table with the usual amount of general disdain he normally had on his face and Lance walked over to him.

“What kind of games do you like to play?” Lance asked.

“I don’t really play games anymore…” Karkat said. “Games are for wigglers.”

“What kind of games did you used to play?” Lance asked.

“I used to play online role playing games with Terezi and Nepeta but that was pretty much it.” Karkat said.

Lance nodded a little and shrugged. “Well we’ve got Dungeons and Dragons if you’re into role playing.” He said. “Or the altean version which is called Monsters and Mana but it’s pretty much the same thing.”

“What’s Dungeons and Dragons?” Karkat asked.

“It’s a tabletop game where you make your character and go adventuring with a group while one person makes up the story of the campaign.” Lance said. “I used to play it with the old paladins.” He paused, thinking fondly about the others. “It’s pretty fun.”

Karkat didn’t say anything and instead just stared at the television that Dave and John were using.

“Do you want to give it a try?” Lance asked.

“What?” Karkat asked.

“D&D.” Lance said. “Do you want to play it?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged. “Sounds dumb.” He said.

“Okay. Well what do you want to do?” Lance asked.

Karkat took in a deep breath and huffed before he decided to just leave the room.

Lance watched him go before sighing and walking after him, catching up to him in the hallway and walking next to him.

“Hey.” Lance said softly and Karkat slowed to a stop.

“What?” Karkat asked. “You asked me what I wanted to do and I want to be alone.”

Lance frowned a little. “Why?” He asked.

“Because I’ve been spending entirely too much fucking time with those idiots.” Karkat grumbled.

“Well you are supposed to be getting to know them.” Lance said.

“I really don’t want to get to know them.” Karkat said.

“They need you, you know.” Lance said. “They can’t be a real team without you.”

“They’d be just fine without me.” Karkat said quietly before he began walking again.

Lance matched him in pace. “Do you have any goals for the future?” He asked him.

“What?” Karkat asked, confused.

“Do you have any goals?” Lance asked.

“I… I don’t know…” Karkat said. “I pretty much thought I’d be dead by now so… I guess there wasn’t really a point in figuring out any goals.” He paused. “I wanted to be a threshecutioner when I was younger though.”

Lance nodded, having looked into Rolo’s notes on troll culture. “If you were a threshecutioner, don’t you think you would have to work with a threshecutioner team?” He asked.

“Yeah but being a threshecutioner was an idiotic dream considering that all they do is take over more planets for the bitch of an empress.” Karkat said.

“Yes but putting that aside,” Lance continued. “My point is that when you were a kid, you fantasized about being a part of something right?” He asked.

Karkat slowed again to a stop and looked at Lance with a bit of a sorrowful expression. “I guess so…” He said.

“So how come you don’t want to be a part of this team?” Lance asked. “They need someone and you’ve wanted to be a part of something bigger for a long time.”

Karkat looked down at the floor and shrugged a little. “When I was younger, I used to dream about leading a flaysquad of threshecutioners… That dream kind of died grew up and realized I wasn’t as special as I thought I was.” He said quietly.

“You are special though!” Lance exclaimed quietly. “The black lion saw that in you! Your lion knows that you were meant to lead a team and it knows you can be a part of something bigger and make a real difference in the universe.” He paused. “That’s why you were chosen.”

Karkat peered up at Lance for a moment before looking back down. “I can’t lead them…” He said. “No matter what I thought when I was younger, and no matter what a giant metal meowbeast thinks, I’m just not that guy…” He paused. “I never have been. I thought I was hot-shit when I was that age but I just fail over and over again and even my friends know that I’m worthless. All I do is complain and bitch and moan but I never do anything about the situation I’m complaining about. Every time I try, I just make everything worse. Everything I touch ends up broken…”

“You can change that though.” Lance said, offering an encouraging smile. “You just have to do your best. And that will be enough. You aren’t going to break anything or make anything worse. You just have to learn to take it a little easier on yourself and let go of what’s holding you back.”

“I’m what’s holding me back though…” Karkat said.

“So let go of your self-doubt.” Lance said.

“Easier said than done.” Karkat said.

Lance smiled. “Just do your best.” He said. “Like I said, your best is good enough.”

Karkat looked up at him and hesitated but nodded.

Lance nodded. “Okay.” He said. “Now get in there and bond with your team.” He smiled.

Karkat nodded again and headed back to the game room, walking in with Lance a few paces behind him.

“Hey…” Karkat said, causing the other paladins to look at him. “Do you guy wanna… Like… Play a card game with me or something?” He asked.

“Sure!” Jade smiled.

“I suppose so.” Rose said.

“Sorry, Karkat. I’m busy playing Tony Hawk.” John said.

“You mean you’re busy losing at Tony Hawk.” Dave said as he paused the game and stood up, stretching a little and heading over to the game shelf. “How about Uno?” He asked.

“What’s Uno?” Karkat asked.

“A card game.” Dave said.

Karkat wrinkled up his nose in irritation. “Obviously…” He said and Dave looked at him. Karkat stared at him for a moment before fixing his expression. “I mean… How do you play?” He asked, walking over to the table in the corner of the room and sitting down in one of the six chairs.

Dave picked up the Uno game off the shelf and walked over, sitting next to Karkat. “You just gotta get rid of all your cards while you get other people to draw more cards.” He said. “It’s really easy. We’ll play a practice round so you can learn.” He added before looking over to John who had unpaused the game. “John! Get your ass over here, we’re playing Uno!”

John groaned and paused the game again before getting up and walking over to the table, plopping down next to Dave. “Uno is so gay.” He said.

Dave couldn’t help but cringe a little at the sound of his best friend and crush using the term ‘gay’ as a substitute for ‘dumb.’ He sighed a little, frowning.

“Gay is not the same thing as stupid you fuck.” Karkat grumbled, sensing Dave’s unhappiness.

“Yeah I know.” John said, his goofy smile overcoming his face.

“Then why do you use it that way?” Karkat asked in irritation.

“I don’t know.” John said. “That’s just what you say... You know?”

“No. I don’t know.” Karkat said.

“Can we drop this subject and play the game?” Rose asked.

“Gladly...” Dave said.

John just shrugged and drew his cards.

Jade looked at Lance who was still standing against the doorframe. “Are you going to play with us?” She asked.

Lance smiled. “No thanks.” He said. “You guys have fun though.” He added before walking out and down the hall.

* * *

Lance walked around the castle and searched the rooms for Keith before finding him in what Lance called the educational room which was a room filled with differing screens and holographic projection panels to display information. Keith was currently watching one of Rolo’s video journals on the alternian people.

“You know,” Lance said. “Rolo’s literally hanging out down the hall. You could just ask him about the trolls.”

Keith glanced over at Lance before looking back to the video log and the notes he was taking. “I noticed that you turned off the castle’s defense systems.” He said in a monotone voice.

“Yeah, sorry. Not trying to step on your toes or anything but I wanted to try a different approach to paladin bonding.” Lance said.

“It’s fine.” Keith said. “I’ve never been good at getting people to open up to each other… You’ve always been better at that than me…”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “I mean… Not really?” He said.

Keith glanced over at him again momentarily before looking back. “Did you need something?” He asked.

“Yeah, I…” Lance started. “Um… Nevermind…” He said, turning to leave.

Keith looked over at him. “What is it, Lance?” He asked.

Lance turned back around. “I… I just wanted to… Tell you something…” He said.

“What?” Keith asked.

Lance wanted to tell him how much he had thought about him in the past few years and how much he missed him. How much he cared about him and how his feelings for him had only gotten more and more fond over the time that they had been apart. He wanted to tell him he loved him.

“Just…” He paused and smiled. “I just wanted to say that it’s good to to be working with you again… I missed you, buddy.” He said, losing his nerve.

Keith smiled. “I missed you too.” He said genuinely.

Lance grinned with a little bit of blush before turning and walking out of the room.

* * *

Back in the game room, after four rounds of Uno, Karkat slammed his fist on the table and pointed at John after John made him draw four. “This is bullshit, Egbert!” He exclaimed in frustration. “You’re cheating!”

“How am I cheating?” John asked. “How do you cheat at Uno?”

“You’re hiding those draw four cards and you’re using them to sabatosh me!” Karkat exclaimed.

“No I’m not.” John smiled.

“You are!” Karkat exclaimed. “You’re a liar and a cheater!”

“You’re just a sore loser.” John said.

Jade giggled a little and Rose smiled.

“He’s not even winning.” Dave said, stifling a laugh.

“But he’s cheating!” Karkat exclaimed, becoming red in the face.

Dave let out a laugh. “Chill dude, I’ll take your four cards if you just chill.” He said.

“Oh no, Dave!” John said. “I told Karkat to draw four and he’s gonna draw four.” He grinned.

“John,” Jade smiled. “Stop picking on him. He clearly can’t handle it.” She teased.

“I can handle it just fine!” Karkat exclaimed. “I just don’t like cheaters!”

“I’m really not cheating, bro.” John said.

Karkat fumed but let out a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “You, are, SO, cheating…” He said as calmly as possible before he drew his four cards.

John just grinned.

Once the game was over, Dave had won two rounds of Uno and Rose had won three.

Jade picked up the remaining cards on the table and put them back into the deck box as Dave stood up.

“Well… I think I’m gonna go to bed.” Dave said.

“You sure?” John asked. “I was gonna go get some dinner before bed.”

“Yeah, I’m not really hungry.” Dave said.

“Well okay.” John said. “Goodnight.” He smiled.

“Night, John.” Dave smiled a little before leaving for bed.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go to bed too.” Jade said as she fought off a yawn.

“Yeah, I’m going to go sleep in one of your god-awful human beds again tonight because I'm to lazy to drag my recuperacoon out of my lion’s holding bay.” Karkat said, getting up to leave.

Jade headed out a couple of moments after and Rose got up to put the game back on the shelf.

“You wanna go get some food with me, Rose?” John asked.

“Sure.” Rose smiled and the two of them got up and headed to the kitchen.

Once they got there they searched through the various refrigeration units and ended up pulling a couple of packs of pudding out to eat with their fingers out of the containers.

“So,” John started with a mouth full of pudding. “What did you wanna tell me?” He asked.

“What?” Rose asked.

“Earlier.” John said. “When we were heading to our lions, you said you wanted to tell me something later after training.”

“Oh… Yes… That…” Rose said, setting the pudding cup down on the counter. “I um… Yes… I have something I would like to tell you…”

“Okay. What is it?” John asked, his goofy smile ever present.

Rose smiled a little and took in a deep breath. “John… I have a secret and I want to let you in on that secret. If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone else.” She said.

“Oh okay cool.” John said. “Yeah, I can keep your secrets safe. I’ll keep them so safe  **you** won’t even know them.” He smiled.

Rose smiled and nodded before looking around the room for a moment, looking back to John only once she had summoned all the courage within herself. “John… I’m…” She paused. “I’m a lesbian…”

John raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a little to the side. “What?” He asked, still smiling.

“I’m a lesbian.” Rose said. “I’m gay.”

John frowned. “Oh…” He said, looking away from Rose as he thought.

“Oh?” Rose asked.

John looked back to Rose. “No I mean, that’s cool.” He said, bringing his smile back. “That’s awesome. I’m super happy that you felt comfortable enough with me to tell me… You know… Since I… I guess I’m kind of an ass about that kind of stuff sometimes.” He paused. “I mean, I didn’t think I knew any gay people so I… I thought it was okay to make fun of being gay… I’m sorry.”

“Well, I appreciate the apology.” Rose said. “Could you perhaps refrain from being jokingly homophobic for my sake from now on?”

“Yeah totally.” John said. “Sorry.”

“You're forgiven.” Rose said. “Although, you do know gay people. All the trolls are at least a little gay.”

“Yeah but I don’t really  **know** them.” John said.

“They are still people.” Rose said. “Did you not take their feelings on the matter into account?”

“I… I guess not… I’m sorry…” John said.

“Just please try to be more considerate from now on.” Rose said.

“I’ll try. I promise.” John said. “Sorry.”

“You’re forgiven.” Rose repeated with a smile.

John smiled. “So… Okay… So you’re gay?” He asked. “That’s… Surreal.”

“Is it?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, I mean, I always thought you and me would probably end up together or something.” John said.

“Oh really?” Rose asked with a sly smile.

“Yeah, I mean, not like I’m crushing on you or anything. I just thought that Dave and Jade would eventually end up together which would just leave me and you.” John smiled. “I guess I have to find someone else to marry someday now.” He laughed a little.

“Yes I suppose you will.” Rose said.

“So are you into Jade?” John asked. “I mean, since she’s the only chick friend you have.”

“Just because I’m a lesbian, doesn’t mean that I’m attracted to every girl I know.” Rose smiled.

“Right.” John smiled. “I guess I shouldn’t have assumed that.”

“That’s okay.” Rose said. “And to answer the question, I am not into Jade.”

“Cool.” John said. “I don’t think she’s a lesbian.” He paused. “But I guess I never thought you were a lesbian until now so maybe I just don’t have a gaydar.”

“Well most straight people don’t.” Rose smiled.

John smiled. “So have you always been gay?” He asked.

“As far as I can remember.” Rose said.

“Have you ever dated a girl?” John asked.

“I have never dated anyone.” Rose said.

“Oh…” John said before he let out a little laugh. “I don’t know why but for some reason I was thinking that you like, were a secret serial romantic.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I don’t know what made you think that.” She said.

“Do you have any girl crushes?” John asked.

“Not particularly.” Rose said.

“That doesn’t sound like a no to me.” John grinned.

“I suppose I am slightly intrigued by Kanaya.” Rose smiled.

“Oooh! An alien?!” John asked. “Careful! Their anatomy might not be compatible with yours.”

“Anatomy and what you can do with it doesn’t make up a relationship, John.” Rose said.

John shrugged. “I guess you’re right.” He said. “So does anyone else know you’re gay?” He asked.

“Dave is the only one.” Rose said.

“Aw how come he got to know first?” John asked.

“Well he is like a brother to me, no matter how emotionally closed off he may be.” Rose said. “Also I told him earlier today and I’m planning on telling everyone soon.”

“Well at least I’m the second person you told.” John smiled.

“Yes. You are the second person I told.” Rose smiled back.

* * *

Dave laid down in bed and pulled the covers over himself before rolling onto his side. He stared at the wall ahead of him and realized how empty and sterile his room was. He decided he needed some posters or maybe some magazine articles to hang up. At least on the walls he could see from his bed. Maybe he would toss some clothes, clean or not, onto the floor in order to make the place look more lived in.

He rolled over onto his other side before he felt a sudden shaking of the ship that almost tossed him out of bed. He jolted up as Rolo’s voice came over the castle's coms.

“We’re under attack from an alternian ship.” Rolo announced. “I’m gonna go ahead and assume that the paladins should probably get to their lions.”

Dave jumped out of bed in nothing but his boxers and ran to get his armor before going to his hanger.

All five of the paladins were outside with their lions in a matter of minutes. They flew in formation in front of the castle and faced an alternian battleship that was about twice the size of the one they had faced before. It had stopped its attack and was simply gliding in front of the paladins.

“Is it just me or is this a bigger ship?” John asked through the coms.

“Of course it’s bigger, Egbert!” Karkat scolded. “Do you think all the ships in the empress’s army are going to be the same size and class? No!”

“Jeez! Okay! I was just asking!” John said.

“Guys chill.” Dave said.

“We’re being hailed.” Rolo said. “Putting it on all screens.” He added.

A video transmission came up on the screens within the castle as well as the communication screens within the lions. There was a short but muscular feminine looking troll with purple irises on the transmission.

“You will surrender the rebel forces to Her Imperious Condescension along with the warships they command. Now.” The troll ordered.

“I don’t think we’ll be doing that.” Rolo said, ending the transmission and making the first strike against the alternian ship with the castle’s weapons.

The alternian ship retaliated, firing back at full force and with stronger weaponry than the castle could ever hope to muster.

The paladins, with their self preservation instincts, each dodged out of the way and let the castle take the brunt of the hit.

Keith and Lance arrived on the bridge a little late and each went to their panels.

“I got this.” Rolo said as he and Lance piloted the castle off of the surface of the planet. “You take the turrets.”

Keith nodded and headed to the side of the room where a console specifically for heavy duty weapons had been installed by Lance and Coran many years ago.

“Guys!” Keith said through the coms as the paladins dodged and ducked out of the way of several attacks. “You need to get it together and fight as a team!” He nearly scolded. “Four of you have done this a million times in simulations and one of you has fought alternian warships before! This shouldn’t be that hard for you!”

“I’ve never fought a warship!” Karkat exclaimed. “I just attack them while they’re distracted and take out their vital systems long enough to run away!”

“Well we’re not running away this time!” Keith said. “Today is the day when you man-up and do what you have to do to make the universe a safer place!”

Karkat swirled through the air and got away from three separate attacks when a very confused and shirtless Sollux walked into the cockpit of the black lion.

“What’s going on?” Sollux asked, causing Karkat to jump and look back at him, instantly being hit with an attack due to the distraction.

“What the hell are you doing in here?!” Karkat asked as he regained control of his lion and veered off from the group a little.

“Uh… I… Was um…” Sollux stammered. “My recuperacoon is still in the cargo hold.” He lied. “I was sleeping.” He lied again.

“Get your goddamn recuperacoon out of my fucking ship after we fucking land!” Karkat said as Feferi walked into the cockpit with messy hair.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“What the fuck?!” Karkat exclaimed. “How many trolls are sleeping in my fucking warship?!”

“Sleeping?” Feferi asked in momentary confusion. “Oh! Yes! Sleeping!” She exclaimed after sharing a look with Sollux. “I’m sorry Karkat! I’ll move my recuperacoon out of the ship as soon as we land!”

“Whatever!” Karkat exclaimed as he dodged another attack.

“Karkat! Where are you going?!” Rose asked through the coms.

“I’m trying to spread out!” Karkat responded. “If we spread out they might not be able to keep track of us all!” He explained. “They’ll have to pick a target which will allow one of us to get behind them and hit them in their weak spot!”

“What’s their weak spot?!” Jade asked.

“All the alternian cruisers I’ve ever fought have had a weak spot on the underside near the back!” Karkat said. “If we hit that, it will disable all their major systems for sixteen minutes and twenty seconds which I don’t think I need to explain is a good thing!”

“Right!” John exclaimed as the paladins all headed in separate directions. 

The ship continued to fire but seemed only able to hit four lions at a time while also focusing on hitting the castle.

Karkat got behind the ship and took out his jawblade, slicing down the back of the underside and causing a couple of small explosions before he regrouped with the others and the alternian ship stopped firing.

“What do we do now?!” Jade asked, panicking a little.

Karkat hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe we should just keep firing at it.” He suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” Dave said as he opened fire on the warship and everyone else followed suit.

The ship didn’t try to move or hail them, it just sat there and took the heavy fire. After a couple of minutes, more ships showed up in the distance. A whole fleet in fact, with cruisers and fighters as well as the ship of the Condesce herself.

Karkat began to panic and yelled through the coms. “We have to get out of here!”

Keith stared out at the fleet for a moment. “Okay. You’re right.” He said. “Lance, make a wormhole to get us out of here. Paladins, follow the castle.”

All the paladins turned their lions to follow as Lance opened up a wormhole above the planet’s atmosphere.

Rolo and Lance piloted the castle towards the wormhole but their journey was cut short when every ship in the alternian fleet aimed at them and fired at once, taking down their particle barrier in one hit and damaging a majority of the systems needed to fly.

The wormhole disappeared as Lance was thrown to the ground by the sheer force of the hit.

“Lance!” Keith exclaimed, getting up from his seat at the turret station to check on him.

Keith helped Lance up before the alternian ships hit them once again.

Keith and Lance were forced back down onto the floor as Rolo held onto his flight console.

“Guys!” Rolo exclaimed as the lights flickered and went out. “The ship’s dead! We’re heading for the surface!”

Lance scrambled to his feet and tried to regain control through his piloting station but it was no use. “We have to get the ship working again!” He exclaimed.

Keith took off out of the bridge doors to get to the crystal that powered the ship. Once he was there, he spoke through the coms. “The whole thing is knocked out of its place!” He informed. “Everything looks broken!”

“Go to the panel in the back of the room!” Lance said. “If you can get that working you can tap into the manual emergency power! The manual emergency power runs off of a smaller crystal but it should be enough to keep us from colliding with the dirt!”

“On it!” Keith exclaimed and ran to the back of the room, though before he could get there, the ship was hit again by the alternian fleet and he was knocked against the floor, smacking his head against the metal and being rendered unconscious.

“Keith!” Lance called out. “We’re going down! Do you have the emergency power on?!” He exclaimed. “KEITH?!”

Keith was down for the count and the ship headed for the ground as the lions did their best to avoid being captured by the fleet.

“Guys!” Jade exclaimed. “The castle!”

“We can’t help them right now!” Rose said. “We need to get out of here! If they catch Voltron they’ll have the universe’s one weapon against them!”

“We can’t just leave them!” John exclaimed. 

“We have to!” Rose exclaimed.

Karkat hesitated. He knew almost all of his friends were on that ship and he knew the Condesce would kill them. “I’m not leaving them!” He decided.

“Me neither!” John said.

“I’m not going anywhere!” Jade chimed in.

Dave hesitated. “Well how do you suppose we do this?” He asked.

“We just have to target their weak spots!” John exclaimed.

“This plan has a high probability of causing our deaths!” Rose informed.

“JUST DO IT!” Karkat exclaimed and headed into the fleet.

The others took a moment to follow but headed in behind him.

“We are not prepared for this!” Rose exclaimed as she followed in the back of the line and veered off to avoid a collision with a fighter.

“Unless you want everyone in the castle to  **die** , we don’t have a choice!” Karkat said.

The castle collided with the ground of the planet but all the ships in the fleet were focused on the lions.

“Alright, guys!” Dave spoke up. “Let’s at least buy the castle enough time to get their shields back up!”

The lions flew in no specific pattern as they attempted, and mostly failed, to attack the weaker spots of the fleet. It did not come as a surprise to any of them when they ended up completely surrounded after only taking out the primary systems of three ships.

The fleet opened fire on the lions until the lions were completely shut down and the ship belonging to the Condesce took each of them into its cargo hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any ships or plot-lines you would like to see in this fic please don't hesitate to ask. :) I can't guarantee that I will implement all suggestions but if you would like to share your ideas I would love to hear them.  
> So far in terms of shipping, I'm planning on having Dave/Karkat (red/pitch/pale/ashen), Sollux/Feferi (red), Sollux/Aradia (pale), Sollux/Eridan (pitch/red), Jake/Dirk, maybe Dirk/Kankri or Kankri/Lil' Hal (red/pale?), Kankri/Cronus (ex's - red/pitch), temporary Davesprite/John, Kanaya/Rose (red), Gamzee/Tavros (red), Jade/Davepetasprite (red/pale?), Keith/Lance, maybe Eridan/Cronus (red/pitch), Feferi/Eridan (pale), maybe John/Terezi (pitch), maybe John/Vriska (pitch/red?), and maybe John/Roxy (red).  
> I may have forgotten a ship or two but those are all the one's I'm either planning on or leaning towards. ^u^  
> I also may turn John into a trans girl (June).  
> If you have any input or things you would like to see throughout this adventure, let me know. :D


	7. Chapter 7

Rolo had managed not to get knocked out during the fall to the planet’s surface and looked over to see Lance collapsed over a seat he had been flung onto.

Rolo groaned in pain as he moved to get up, assuming that his arm was broken. He held his injured arm and quickly walked over to Lance.

“Lance?” He asked, just hoping he was alive.

He let go of his own arm in order to pull Lance off of the chair and onto the ground, as Lance had been lying awkwardly and Rolo wanted it to be easier to look him over.

“Lance?” He repeated before shaking him.

Lance didn’t wake up but he was breathing.

“Keith?” Rolo asked through the coms. “Keith? You alive?”

No answer came through.

“Anybody?” Rolo asked.

After a moment a single voice came through, sounding strained. “Hello?!” The voice said, it sounded like Nepeta.

“Hey! Are you okay?” Rolo asked.

“Yes! I’m okay! But Equius is hurt and so is Aradia!” Nepeta said.

“Okay.” Rolo said. “How bad are they?” He asked.

“Equius got hit in the head and Aradia's leg is hurt!” Nepeta said.

Rolo glanced at Lance. “Okay.” He said. “Leave Equius with Aradia if you can and go find the others. We need to know if everyone is okay.”

“Okay…” Nepeta said. “Okay…”

Rolo walked out of the room and quickly headed to the room Keith had gone to. “Keep me updated if you find anyone.” He said.

“Alright.” Nepeta said.

Rolo walked into the power room and saw Keith slumped over against a wall with blood trickling down his face.

Rolo ran over to him and shook him. “Keith?!”

Keith didn’t wake up and simply slumped back over to the side. He had hit his head several times in the crash and wasn’t about to wake up anytime soon, but he was alive.

Rolo laid him down to keep him from hurting himself again if anything else happened. He then headed for the back of the room to find the manual emergency power source. He flipped some switches, not sure how this particular power source worked before he pulled down on a large switch and the lights, though dull, turned on.

Rolo left Keith in the power room and headed back to the bridge where Lance had just begun to wake and was holding onto his head as he tried to sit upright.

“Lance?” Rolo asked as he walked over to him. “You okay?”

“I feel like I just got hit in the head with a hammer…” Lance groaned and looked around. “What happened?” He asked.

“We crashed.” Rolo said, helping Lance up before walking over to the piloting station and getting the screens back up.

“What’s happening out there?” Lance asked.

Rolo looked out to see that the fleet had left. He shook his head. “They’re gone.” He said. “Everyone’s gone.”

“Gone?” Lance asked, walking over.

“The alternians, the paladins… They’re all gone.” Rolo said.

Lance stared out onto the surface of the planet for a moment. “Wait…” He said. “Where’s Keith?!” He asked in a panic.

Rolo looked at him. “He’s in the power room.” He said. “He’s knocked out and bleeding but he’s alive.”

Lance took off running to the power room and slid down to the floor at Keith’s side. He hesitated before he rested his hand on Keith’s cheek, tilting his face towards him.

“Keith?” He asked a little bit above a whisper. “Buddy?”

Keith’s breathing was shallow and Lance stared at him for only a moment before he decided to hoist him up and drag him to the medical bay and get him into a healing pod.

* * *

The lions were completely powerless which allowed the alternians to pry into them and rip the passengers out in order to take them to the brig.

Karkat and John were placed in a cell together, Jade and Dave were placed in a cell next to them, Sollux and Feferi were placed in a cell across the hall, and Rose was placed in her own cell. All of the cells had thick metal doors with only a small barred window on the door. The cells themselves were empty and small and only had a small space for the paladins to move around.

“This is your fault, Egbert!” Karkat exclaimed in anger.

“How is this my fault?” John asked before he attempted to bite through his handcuffs.

“I don’t know!” Karkat said. “It just is!”

“Well I think you’re just throwing blame around ‘cause you’re the one who didn’t want to leave the castle.” John said.

“Neither did you!” Karkat scolded.

John let out a breath and leaned against the wall before he shrugged and slid down to sit on the floor.

“Guys…” Dave called out. “It’s no one’s fault…” He paused. “But we have to get out of here…”

“How are we gonna do that?!” Jade asked.

Dave sighed and leaned against the door of his cell. “I don’t know…” He said.

After a moment, the seven of them heard a door open down the hallway and a couple of sets of footsteps coming towards the cells.

The steps stopped close to the doors and the seven of them looked out their cell door windows at four tall trolls. Three feminine and one masculine, all in heavy armor, and all with light blue eyes.

“Which of you is the leader?” One of the feminine trolls asked.

“I am!” Sollux said immediately, not wanting them to kill his best friend.

The masculine looking troll walked over and unlocked the door to Sollux’s cell, yanking him out and looking at Feferi. “You too. Come on.” They said.

Feferi came willingly while Sollux was fighting a little.

Sollux caught Karkat’s eye as he walked. He hoped he would get to see him again and that neither of them would be killed but he had his doubts.

The four trolls took Sollux and Feferi out of the brig and closed the door at the end of the hallway behind them.

Karkat watched as long as he could see them and slammed his fists on the door as they left. “Goddamn it, Sollux!” He shouted and rested his head on the bars of the window.

“Why did he say he was the leader?” Jade asked.

“He’s protecting Karkat.” Rose said.

“God fucking damn it!” Karkat exclaimed, slamming his fists on the door again. He continued to slam into the door until he was slamming his shoulder into it in a rage as he tried to break it down and John grabbed him to keep him from hurting himself.

John pulled him away from the door as he struggled and fought.

After about a minute and a half Karkat stopped trying to force his way out of John’s grip and John loosened his hold on him.

“Hey, man… It’s okay, we’ll get out of here.” John said.

Karkat shoved John away from him and walked over to lay his head against the wall. “We’re not getting out of here!” He said. “They’re gonna kill us all! They’re taking my best friend away **right now** to kill him! Nothing is okay right now!”

John frowned and placed his hands on Karkat’s shoulder. Karkat snapped and whipped around, violently shoving John away and into the wall.

“Fuck off, Egbert! Fuck off and fuck you! Just get fucked!” Karkat shouted. “This is all your fault! This is all of your faults! You people shouldn’t have involved me and my friends in this bullshit! You’re the reason we’re all going to die!”

John looked like he might cry. “I… I’m sorry…” He said in a low and sad tone.

“It’s not your fault, John.” Dave said. “He’s just scared…”

John didn’t say anything, he just stared at Karkat for a moment before Karkat turned away.

Dave listened, he expected Karkat to start yelling again but instead he heard him sniffling.

“Karkat… Are you, crying?” Dave asked.

“No…” Karkat said quietly and with a sniffle. Everyone knew he was lying. All Karkat could think about was the fact that his best friend may have been being culled and the rest of his friends could have died in the castle’s crash or have been killed after. He was assuming everyone he knew and cared about would be dead soon.

“Karkat…” Jade said. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Karkat didn’t say anything, he just sniffled again and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his armor.

* * *

Sollux and Feferi were led into a large office room together that was painted in fuchsia. There were alternian flags hanging behind the desk and several trophies from conquered planets. The trolls took their handcuffs off and left them alone in the office for a couple of minutes before the Condesce herself walked in with her trident in hand.

Her skin was nearly pitch black as all trolls skin would become after so many molts and her hair was long past her thighs. She smiled a toothy grin as she stood and watched the young trolls.

Sollux and Feferi stood closely together, fearing for each other’s lives, as Sollux expected the Condesce to kill Feferi as she was a threat to her throne and Feferi expected her to kill Sollux as he had claimed to be the leader of the rebels.

The Condesce walked toward them and the two of them stepped back.

Sollux placed his hand in front of Feferi, pushing her slightly more behind him in order to keep her safer.

The empress smiled and pointed her trident at Sollux who flinched. “You’re the leader of the rebellion?” She asked. “You? A mustard blood who flinches when he feels threatened.”

Sollux hesitated. “Yeah… I’m the leader of the rebellion…” He lied.

The Condesce shook her head. “No you’re not.” She said.

“Yes I am.” Sollux said, this time with a bit more conviction.

“No.” The empress said. “No, you’re not.” She aimed her trident at Feferi. “It’s you isn’t it?” She asked. “He’s just trying to protect you.”

Feferi took in a deep breath and straightened up her back, pushing past Sollux despite him trying to pull her back. She walked confidently up to the tip of the trident and the Condesce grinned.

“Why do you lead the rebellion?” The Condesce asked.

“Because you’re a monster!” Feferi said. “You’ve destroyed so many innocent lives and we aren’t going to take it anymore!”

The empress nodded. “Why am I a monster?” She asked. “This is what we do. Our whole race. This is how we exist. The people we’ve taken over were pathetic and weak and they deserved to be conquered and culled.” She paused and observed Feferi’s disdainful expression. “How did you grow to be so… Pitiful?”

“I am not pitiful! I am not pathetic! I am not weak!” Feferi exclaimed. “I will be a better empress than you ever were! I will treat everyone equally and with compassion!”

“Well you’re right about one thing.” The Condesce said. “You will be a better empress than I ever have been.” She lowered her trident. “I’m coming to the end of my life and you’re going to take over for me.”

Feferi paused. “Wha… What?” She asked, surprised.

“I’m going to break you.” The Condesce said. “You will become my successor. You will do as I say and you will follow in my footsteps.”

Feferi’s expression was disgusted. “No I will **not**!” She shouted.

The Condesce smiled and raised her trident quickly to Feferi’s chin. “You don’t have a choice.” She said before she called in another alternian. “Take her to her new cell.” She said. “Make sure she’s comfortable.”

The troll grabbed Feferi and pulled her away as she fought to be free. The Condesce watched them leave before turning her attention to Sollux. “You.” She said. “You come with me.”

* * *

Nepeta helped Rolo and Lance to pull everyone to the medical bay and get them into healing pods. No one was dead but Nepeta and Lance were the only ones without serious injuries.

Rolo resisted Lance when he told him to get into a healing pod but eventually he agreed and Lance and Nepeta went to the power room to figure out how to fix the crystal.

Lance stared up at the crystal for a moment before he sighed and looked down.

“How do we fix this?” Nepeta asked.

“I… Well… It’s all out of alignment so… We just gotta move it back and hook it back up…” Lance said in a bit of a defeated tone as he was distracted with the thought of Keith being hurt.

“Okay… How?” Nepeta asked.

“Um…” Lance said before he shook his head, trying to get the thought of Keith out of his mind. “Yeah… We just… We gotta… Get it back up there…”

Nepeta stared at him for a moment. “Are you okay?” She asked.

Lance blinked a couple of times and looked at Nepeta. “Not really no.” He admitted. “I just… I need Keith to be okay…”

Nepeta tilted her head a little. “Oh. You love him?” She asked, catching on immediately.

Lance nodded. “He doesn’t know.” He said. “He doesn’t know I love him… I love him so much and I just need him to be okay. I can’t lose him and I can’t let him go before I’ve told him.”

Nepeta smiled a little and put her hand on Lance’s forearm to comfort him. “He’ll be okay.” She said.

Lance looked down at Nepeta and took in a big breath but shook his head. “I don’t know what I would do if he didn’t make it.” He said. “Like… I really don’t know what I would do. I’ve already lost everyone I’ve ever loved and I… I can’t lose the only person I have left from my old life. If he dies… I feel like I’ll die too.”

Nepeta pulled Lance into a hug. “He’s gonna wake up later and you’re gonna tell him you love him and you’re gonna be so happy together.” She said with a smile and it made Lance feel better. He hugged her back.

“Okay…” He said after a few moments. “Let’s get this stupid crystal back where it’s supposed to be.” He smiled and pulled away from Nepeta, stepping up to the where the crystal had fallen.

* * *

Karkat was lightly hitting his head repeatedly against the wall. He had stopped crying soon after he started, repressing all the things he was feeling like he normally tried to do. John was still fiddling with his handcuffs, Dave was sitting down against the wall, Jade was pacing back and forth, and Rose was sitting and thinking in the middle of her cell.

Karkat suddenly whipped around and looked at John. “What are you doing?! You’re just sitting there fucking with your cuffs!” He scolded.

John looked up at him and dropped his hands. “It’s not like you’re doing anything either…” He said.

Karkat groaned and turned back to the wall. “Why isn’t anyone doing anything?!” He exclaimed, mostly to himself.

Dave rolled his eyes and Jade stopped pacing.

“Wait!” Jade said. “They didn’t take our bayards!”

“What the fuck is a bayard?!” Karkat shouted.

Rose stood up. “It’s a weapon.” She said.

“You people have weapons and you’re not fucking using them?!” Karkat asked. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“Uh… I forgot we had them.” Dave said as he stood up. “How do we get them out of our suits again?” He asked Jade.

“Out of your suits?!” Karkat asked. “How are they in your fucking suits?! What the fuck are these weapons?!”

“We have to focus on it and bring them out psychically.” Rose said, ignoring Karkat.

John stood up and tried to comfortably put his hand down to his right side. He stood there for a moment while Karkat stared at him and nothing happened.

Rose had no problem drawing her weapon out and neither did Dave or Jade, though Jade was having a hard time getting a comfortable grip on her’s with the way her hands were cuffed.

“Jade, put your gun down for a sec.” Dave said.

“Okay. Why?” Jade said, setting her bayard down.

“Hold your hands out.” Dave said and Jade did what he asked.

Dave put his sword in-between her and her hands. “Okay this is gonna be a little bit of an awkward way to do this.” He said, knowing it would be difficult at the angle they were at. “Just pull back as hard as you can.” He added.

Jade pulled backward and Dave pulled forward and tried to awkwardly cut through the chain.

“Aren’t you afraid you’re gonna hit yourself in the face with your sword if you pull hard enough to snap the chain?” Jade asked.

Dave stopped for a moment. “Well I am now…” He said before he continued to pull.

After about a minute of Dave and Jade trying to get out of their cuffs, there was a shaking in the hall along with a loud rumbling noise as Rose blew the wall off of her cell with her weapons, having already broken her cuffs.

All of the others ran to their doors to see Rose patting some dust off of her armor before she looked up at John and Karkat’s cell window. “Move back.” She said.

* * *

The Condesce led Sollux to the bridge before taking him into a side room where a machine that doubled as a prison made of organic matter held a troll in place. Sollux could barely see the captured troll with how dark the room was but he could tell that he was having a hard time breathing from the way his chest moved in the shadows.

The low lights came on and Sollux’s jaw dropped at the sight of a troll that looked strikingly similar to himself entangled in the organic prison in a way that hooked him into the ship itself.

The troll didn’t seem to notice that anyone else was in the room or that the lights had come on.

“What the hell is this?” Sollux asked.

“This is your future.” The Condesce said.

Sollux looked at her with contempt.

“My Psiioniic has done a good job at keeping my ship leagues above and beyond the others but… No matter how much I try to extend his life, I can no longer delay the inevitable.” The empress said, walking over and placing a hand on his chest, transferring a small amount of her life force into him. “He’ll be gone soon and I need a new mustard blood to fill in his place.” She looked at Sollux. “You look so much like him…” She added. “What is your symbol?” She asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, sea-witch…” Sollux said.

The Condesce smiled and gestured to the Psiioniic’s outfit. “Does it look like this?” She asked.

Sollux looked at the Psiioniic’s clothing and his expression dropped as he saw his own symbol. His face told the empress everything. She grinned.

“I hope your power will be as strong as his.” She said, walking past Sollux and towards the door. “Enjoy your last hour of semi-freedom before we hook you up to the ship.” She added before leaving and locking the door behind her.

Sollux took a step toward the Psiioniic and stared at him for a few minutes before his expression changed to one of anger and determination and he reached out and slapped his ancestor in the face as hard as he could.

The Psiioniic’s head jolted back and he opened his eyes. He was clearly confused.

“Wake up!” Sollux shouted as the Psiioniic’s eyes threatened to close again. “Stay awake! You’re gonna help me get out of here!”

The Psiioniic struggled to take in a deep breath. “Who are you?” He said weakly and just above a whisper.

“Apparently I’m your descendant.” Sollux said. “Your entire fucking legacy rests with me so wake the fuck up and help me get out of here.”

The Psiioniic stared at him for a moment, breathing and blinking slowly. “I can’t… I can’t move…” He said, his tone indicating that he had completely given up.

“Yeah well we’re gonna fix that.” Sollux said.

The Psiioniic was silent for a minute as Sollux looked around for any way to get him out. “Just… Go…” He said. “I can… I can stop the ship or take you somewhere or force them away from you once you’re out but… I’m… I can’t… I’m done…”

“I’m not leaving you here…” Sollux said quietly.

The Psiioniic hesitated. “There is nothing… Nothing left for me… She’s killed everyone I ever… Everyone I ever cared about…” He paused. “He’s… He’s gone…”

“Who’s gone?” Sollux asked, just trying to keep the Psiioniic awake and talking while he struggled to find a way to get him free.

“My… My friend… He was… Everything… I never… Told him how I felt…” The Psiioniic said.

“What was his name?” Sollux asked.

“You would know him… As the Signless… Or I hope you would…” The Psiioniic said quietly.

“You mean the Sufferer?” Sollux asked.

“The Sufferer?” The Psiioniic asked.

“Yeah.” Sollux said. “Red-blooded mutant troll who led a rebellion against the Condesce and died for it.”

“That was him…” The Psiioniic said. “That was him…”

“And you loved him?” Sollux asked.

The Psiioniic smiled a little. “I hated him…” He said. “I hated him so much and in all the best ways… I never told him…”

“Why not?” Sollux asked as he lightly tugged on a part of the Psiioniic’s fleshy prison without luck of getting him out.

The Psiioniic was silent for a moment. “I was afraid… I thought he could never feel that way for me…” He said. “And he was fucking clueless… When I tried to hint at it…” He added.

“Yeah I have a friend like that…” Sollux said, still trying to pry apart the organic parts.

“Tell him how you feel while you can…” The Psiioniic said.

“He might actually be the Sufferer’s descendant.” Sollux said. “He doesn’t believe in ancestors though.”

“Neither did… Neither did my…” The Psiioniic closed his eyes and his breathing became more shallow.

Sollux slapped him in the face again. “Stay awake!” He demanded.

The Psiioniic stared at Sollux for a moment. “Just… Let me die…” He said somberly.

A tear threatened to come to Sollux’s eye but he pushed it back down. “Not gonna happen.” He said.

* * *

Lance and Nepeta got the crystal back into its proper position and got the power back on, though a lot of the castle’s systems were damaged and they were not able to take flight or even search for the lions.

“So what do we do now?” Nepeta asked as Lance stepped down from his piloting platform where he had been trying to connect with the ship.

Lance shook his head. “There’s not much we can do.” He said. “I’ll send out a distress call but I don’t know that anyone will hear it.”

Nepeta’s face contorted as she thought before she smiled and looked at Lance. “I have an idea.” She said.

“What’s that?” Lance asked.

“You make a wormhole and I fly one of the tiny spare ships somewhere to get help.” Nepeta suggested.

“No we can’t make a wormhole.” Lance said. “Not enough power and half our teleduv lenses are broken.”

Nepeta frowned but smiled again in an encouraging manner. “Then we just take the little ship and we fly away to look for help.” She said.

Lance thought for a moment but shook his head. “No we can’t leave everyone in the healing pods.” He said. “The alternians could come back at any time and kill them. They’d be defenseless.”

“Then I’ll stay and you can go.” Nepeta said. “I can put the particle barrier up while you’re gone and we’ll be fine.”

Lance thought about it for a moment. “Okay…” He said. “Okay. I just… I gotta go see Keith before I leave.”

Nepeta smiled. “Okay.” She said. “I’ll wait for you here so you can teach me how to use the barrier.”

Lance nodded. “Okay.” He said before heading back to the medical bay.

All of the upright pods were taken by the trolls and Rolo and so Keith was in a horizontal pod on a table in the middle of the room.

Lance walked over to Keith’s pod and checked his vital signs before he stared at him for a few minutes.

“I need you to wake up when I get back. Okay?” He said. “If you don’t… I won’t have anything left to fight for.” He thought about placing a farewell kiss on the pod’s glass above Keith’s face but he decided that would be weird and so he simply said goodbye and left.

* * *

Rose had gotten everyone out of the cells and out of their handcuffs but as soon as they busted out of the brigs main hallway door, the alarm sounded throughout the ship.

“We have to get to our lions!” John said.

“No! Fuck that!” Karkat said. “We have to get Sollux and Feferi!”

“We can do both!” Rose said. “We get to our lions by going back the way the guards brought us in and then we use our lions to search the ship for the others.”

“Okay.” John said.

“I thought I was supposed to be the leader of this stupid group?” Karkat said.

“Do you have a better idea?” Rose asked.

Karkat hesitated. “No.” He said.

“Than let’s go.” Rose said as some older and armed trolls came around the corner.

The trolls began shooting at them and they all flung themselves against the walls.

Jade quickly leaned out and shot each of the trolls in the head.

“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” John asked.

“My grandpa taught me.” Jade said.

“Come on.” Dave said, leading the way down the corridor.

* * *

The alarms went off and made Sollux jump as he pulled on the organic matter attached to his ancestor. The Psiioniic didn’t move a muscle.

“The prisoners are escaping…” The Psiioniic said.

Sollux stopped and looked at him. “Can you help them?” He asked.

The Psiioniic closed his eyes for a moment. “I can… I can keep the trolls from following them…” He said as he used his connection to the ship to close doors and redirect the soldiers and the threshecutioners. “And I… I can get you out of here… But you have to leave me behind…” He added.

“I’m not doing that.” Sollux said.

“You have to… If you want to live… If you don’t… If you don’t want to end up like me…” The Psiioniic all but wheezed. “This ship is made… Of organic material… I can use it to keep you from… From getting caught… It will take everything I have… I can’t do it for long… But I can get you out...”

“If I leave, you die.” Sollux said.

“No… She’ll keep me alive… She needs me alive… She’ll keep me… Barely hanging on for as long as she can…”

“But… You’ve fought her before!” Sollux said. “If I get you out of here you can help us take her down!”

The Psiioniic stared at Sollux for a moment. “Please…” He said just above a whisper. “Please leave me… You have a chance to… To take her down forever… You need to kill her…” He paused. “You can either stay here… And save me… And die in the process… Or you can leave me… And you can live to fight against her…”

“I… I don’t want to leave you…” Sollux said.

“Please…” The Psiioniic said. “Please do this…”

Sollux looked down for a moment, thinking, before he looked back to his ancestor with determination on his face. “I’ll come back for you.” He said. “I swear I’ll come back for you and I’ll get you out of here. You’re going to be free.”

The Psiioniic gave him a hint of a smile. “Go…” He said, opening the door for him and allowing Sollux to run out through the bridge as the Psiioniic turned the ships weapons against itself, blasting the ship from the outside and blowing up major systems from within.

* * *

The paladins ran all the way to the cargo bay with almost no resistance as the Psiioniic kept anyone from getting to them. All five of them ran to get into their lions but the lions were still completely dead.

“Oh come on!” Karkat shouted in frustration as he yanked on the controls.

“My lion isn’t waking up!” Jade said.

“We’re fucked!” Karkat exclaimed.

“Guys!” Dave exclaimed. “Fucking chill! Our bonds with our lions… I don’t know... Maybe we could use them to get out of this.”

“Yeah because relating to a warship and asking it really nicely to turn itself back on is really going to help!” Karkat scolded sarcastically.

“You got any better ideas, Big Cheese?” Dave asked.

“What the fuck is a big cheese?!” Karkat exclaimed.

“It’s a nickname for the leader.” Dave said.

“Don’t call me that or any other fucking nicknames!” Karkat yelled.

“Whatever!” Dave exclaimed. “Do you have any better ideas?!”

“NO!” Karkat shouted.

“Than shut the fuck up and bond with your lion!” Dave shouted back.

Karkat grumbled something Dave couldn’t quite hear but he did as he was told and shut his eyes to reach out to the black lion.

* * *

Sollux ran through the halls with the help and direction of his ancestor closing and opening the appropriate doors. He ran around a corner and collided with Feferi, knocking her and himself to the ground.

“Sollux!” Feferi exclaimed.

“Fef!” Sollux exclaimed. “Come on!” He added as he got up and helped her to her feet, both of them taking off running down the hall.

* * *

“Guys this isn’t working!” John exclaimed after trying to bond with his lion.

“Yeah! I told you! We’re fucked!” Karkat said.

“Rose! What do we do?!” Jade asked.

Rose thought for a moment. “I… I don’t know…” She said, freezing up.

“Well we have to do something!” John said. “The whole ship feels like it’s falling apart!”

“Yeah! What is going on?!” Jade asked as the alternian ship rumbled and shook.

“I don’t know!” Rose said. “But… I… I can’t see a way out…”

“But you’re the smart one!” John said in a panic. “Rose, you have to do something! I don’t wanna die! I’m only twenty-one-years-old! I wanna see my dad again! I wanna go back to Earth! I wanna live!”

“I… I’m sorry, John… I’m so sorry!” Rose said.

“It’s not your fault, Rose.” Dave said. “He’s just scared.”

“I’m scared too…” Jade said. “I want to go home… I don’t want to do this anymore! I want to go home! I want to go back to Earth!” She continued, sounding like she was beginning to cry.

“Maybe we never should have agreed to do this…” Dave said. “I guess it’s too late now…”

There was a somber silence that came over them and Karkat’s thoughts landed on his friends. He thought that they were probably all dead and that he would soon be as well. His lip quivered and he bit it, trying to keep from crying.

“I…” He started. “I’m sorry… I failed…” He said.

“It wasn’t just you…” Dave said. “None of us measured up when it mattered…” There was another silence and Dave let out a big breath, thinking this would be his only chance to tell John how he felt. “John… I… I have to tell you something…” He said.

John sniffled, as he had begun crying as well. “What is it, buddy?” He asked.

“I… I love-” Dave was cut off.

“Sollux!” Karkat exclaimed as he saw Sollux running into the cargo bay through his helm's windows.

“What?” Dave asked.

“It’s Sollux and Feferi!” Karkat exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and running out of his lion to meet his friend.

Karkat almost hugged Sollux but stopped himself.

“You’re alive!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah and we gotta get the fuck out of here!” Sollux said.

“We can’t. The lions are dead.” Karkat said.

“Just come on!” Sollux ordered and ran into the mouth of the black lion with Feferi and Karkat running behind him. “Tell everyone to hold on.” He said once Karkat was sitting down.

“Hold on! I think Sollux has a plan.” Karkat said.

“No I mean literally hold on.” Sollux said, gripping the back of Karkat’s chair.

Karkat was about to tell everyone to physically hang on before there was a large explosion within the cargo bay that threw the lions around as the large cargo bay doors opened and the lions were expelled from the ship.

Dave had been thrown from his seat in the explosion and had smacked his head on the ceiling of his lion. He groaned as he fell onto the floor and pulled himself to his feet. “Is everyone okay?” He asked, rubbing his forehead.

“I’m okay!” Jade said.

“I’ve been better.” Rose said.

“We’re fine.” Karkat said.

There was a pause.

“John, are you okay?” Dave asked.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m okay.” John said.

“Okay…” Dave said. “I’m like, happy to be off the ship and everything but we’re still inside dead lions in the middle of a fucking alternian fleet.”

“Shit…” Sollux said, looking out the window at all the ships that were heading right for them.

“Okay… Okay!” Rose said. “We have to form Voltron! It’s our only chance!”

“We can’t form Voltron with dead lions!” Karkat said.

“Than what do we do?!” John asked just as one of the largest ships in the fleet shot at the cluster of lions.

Karkat closed his eyes tight, expecting to die, only to not feel the hit at all. He opened his eyes after a moment and saw a large robotic figure in front of them, holding a shield up to protect them. “What the fuck is that?!” He exclaimed.

“It… It looks like… Voltron…” Rose said.

“How can it be Voltron?!” Jade asked. “We’re Voltron!” She exclaimed.

“I… I don’t know!” Rose said as the figure lowered it’s shield and headed at full force into the fleet, slicing at the ships with its sword.

After a couple of minutes, half of the ships in the fleet were destroyed and the other half retreated. The large figure that had saved them turned around and revealed itself to them, slowly gliding closer.

It was certainly another Voltron, though where one had lions, the other had what looked like wolves. The head of this Voltron was brown, the sword-bearing arm was grey, the other was orange, while the legs were purple and pink.

“I’m being hailed…” Jade said.

“Me too…” John said.

“I believe we all are…” Rose said.

Karkat answered the transmission to see ten different faces, four human, six trolls all on differing screens.

The troll's faces looked incredibly similar to Sollux, Tavros, Vriska, Eridan, Feferi, and Karkat, while the humans looked like Rose, Dave, Jade, and John.

The ones who looked like Dave, Tavros, Rose, Jade, and Karkat were sitting in paladin armor while the others were standing in the background.

Each of the human lion paladins couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was Dave’s bro, only younger, it was Rose’s mother, only younger, it was Jade’s grandpa, only younger, it was John’s grandma, only younger.

“Paladins of Voltron! Don’t panic!” The one who looked like Tavros said with a smile. “We’re here to help!”


	8. Chapter 8

Lance headed out to find help in one of the spare pod ships. He had been out for some time and had a distress beacon turned on the entire time he was traveling. He was searching the planet for any life forms as he had scanned it with the castle’s systems before landing and found that there were some life forms further across the planet but so far he wasn’t finding anything or anyone besides various plantlife and some animals on the ground.

He sighed and tried to hail the castle to check up on Nepeta but the signal was too weak to get through and so he continued down the path. He wanted to make sure that the castle was not under siege and he wanted to make sure that Keith’s vital signs were still good but he couldn’t and so he just listened to the roaring of the ship's engine.

* * *

Nepeta had put the barrier up as soon as Lance had gone and from that point on she was sitting on the floor leaning against Equius’s healing pod with her art tablet and computer. She was doodling a picture of Equius and Aradia together with hearts all around them while she had a one-sided conversation with her moirail about his flushed crush on Aradia when Eridan’s healing pod sounded with a couple of clicks and beeps before it opened.

Nepeta stared at him for a moment as he slowly woke up and stumbled out of the pod.

Eridan leaned onto the outside of the pod for a moment before he blinked rapidly for a moment and looked at the other pods. “Is everyone else still injured?” He asked, looking at Nepeta.

“Yup.” Nepeta said.

Eridan took in a breath and steadied himself, walking over and plopping down next to Nepeta. “How long was I asleep?” He asked.

“Not long.” Nepeta said.

Eridan nodded. “Guess I wasn’t very hurt.” He said.

“I thought you had some internal damage with how much you were whining.” Nepeta said playfully.

“Well it fuckin’ felt like it.” Eridan said, leaning back against Equius’s pod. “Have you been sitting in here the whole time?” He asked.

Nepeta nodded and started drawing again, switching over to the coloring.

Eridan waited a moment, looking up and behind him to make sure Equius was asleep before he slid in closer to Nepeta and looked over her shoulder at her drawing. “Drawing your ships again?” He asked.

“Yup.” Nepeta smiled.

“You wanna know one of my personal favorite ships?” Eridan asked.

Nepeta looked at him and nodded, always wanting to know about new ships.

“You and me.” Eridan said, exaggerating how much he liked the idea as a ploy to get someone interested in him.

Nepeta’s smile turned into a slight grimace but she tried to smile politely, now noticing how close her friend was to her. “Um… I don’t think I like that ship…” She said.

Eridan frowned and slouched his shoulders before standing up. “Whatever…” He said, walking out of the room and ignoring Nepeta now that she had turned him down.

Nepeta watched him leave before she shuddered and went back to her drawings.

* * *

Lance felt like he had searched the entire planet after some time even though he knew he certainly hadn’t, but he was giving up hope that he would find someone to help. He leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes, only for a moment, when he felt a hot puff of air on his face followed by something wet quickly lapping at his nose.

He jumped at the sensation, opening his eyes and looking to the passenger’s seat of the pod ship to see Cosmo, crunched up in his seat. Lance hadn’t seen Keith’s teleporting dog in a few years but it seemed like he was always getting bigger. At the moment he was big enough that, even though he was curled up as much as possible, he was only awkwardly fitting into the pod and covering up most of the windshield with his size.

Lance smiled. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

Cosmo almost looked like he smiled back before Lance felt the teleport jump. The whole ship disappeared and then reappeared back next to the castle and inside the barrier.

Lance looked out the window and groaned in frustration. “Buddy… I was away from here for a reason.” He said as he slowed the pod down and hovered over the general hanger.

Cosmo just licked his face and disappeared.

* * *

Nepeta was tapping her foot to some music that was in her head as she colored her drawing. Suddenly there was Cosmo, sitting behind her with his looming head over her shoulder and breathing into her ear.

Nepeta jumped and jolted to her feet, nearly falling backwards in surprise only to be caught by Eridan who had just come back into the room.

She quickly jumped out of his arms and stared at Cosmo, hoping he wasn’t a vicious animal but being prepared for anything.

Cosmo wagged his tail happily. He was bigger than the size of the healing pod.

Nepeta and Eridan stood completely still for a moment before Eridan untensed and shrugged. “He seems friendly enough.” He said. “Where did he come from?” He asked.

“I dunno.” Nepeta said. “He was just behind me all the sudden.”

Eridan glanced at Nepeta before he shrugged again and walked over to Cosmo, extending his hand to let him sniff it. “If he bites me, put me back in the healing pod.” He said.

Cosmo leaned in a sniffed Eridan’s hand, still wagging his tail, before he quickly leaned in to lick his face.

Eridan tensed back up and groaned at the sensation. He backed away and tried to wipe the drool off of his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “I think he’s friendly…” He grumped.

“Yeah he’s friendly.” Lance’s voice sounded from the doorway of the room, causing the trolls to look at him. “His name is Cosmo.” He continued. “He’s pretty much Keith’s best friend.” He paused. “He’s also a teleporting alien dog. He showed up and teleported me back to the castle. I guess he wants me here.”

“Did you find anyone though?” Nepeta asked.

“No.” Lance said. “No one.”

Nepeta frowned.

“Don’t worry.” Lance said. “Cosmo normally knows what’s best. If he wants me here, I should be here.”

“He’s a dog…” Eridan said.

“He’s a very smart dog…” Lance said. “And I’m about eighty percent sure that he is actually a completely sentient being, or maybe even an omniscient being, who just happens to look like a dog.” He added.

Cosmo barked a little and wagged his tail.

* * *

The paladins were in a stunned silence and the humans among the duplicate paladins seemed to be having the same issue.

“Who are you?” Feferi spoke up after a moment.

The girl who looked like her, shoved in for a closer look at her. “Well I’ll be coddamned.” She said. “That’s really her.”

“What?” Feferi asked.

“Nothing.” The one who looked like Karkat said in a monotone voice. “We are the paladins of Voltron from another reality. We came here to help you.”

“Wait…” Dave said, snapping out of his silence. “What? No. What?”

His lookalike said nothing but had a look on his face like he wanted to say a lot.

Karkat’s near duplicate sighed in frustration. “Our universe is in complete shambles because of our empress.” He said. “We originally tried to fight her but then she found out how to banish us to another universe. We can’t get back to our universe now so it’s now our priority to help you vanquish your version of the empress.”

“Okay, I’m gonna interrupt before he goes on a tangent.” Feferi’s look alike said. “We’re here to kick some fuchsia colored ass, boy!” She added with a grin.

Vriska’s lookalike sighed and placed her head in her hand and Eridan’s lookalike seemed to be checking out the paladins, though no one could tell which one of them he was staring at.

“What are your names?” Jade asked.

“I’m Cronus Ampora.” Eridan’s look alike said, smiling and winking before leaning against the pilot’s chair of the purple wolf. “This is Jake English.” he said, gesturing to the pilot. “The other pilots are Rufioh Nitram, Kankri Vantas, Dirk Strider, and Roxy Lalonde. Everyone else is Meenah Peixes, Aranea Serket, Mituna Captor, and Jane Crocker.”

“Crocker?” John asked. “Like Betty?”

“Really, John?” Dave asked. “That’s what you’re gonna focus on right now. That’s your dead grandma.” He lectured.

“Right. It’s not important, nevermind.” John said. “I’m John Egbert.” He added. “The others are Dave Strider, Rose Lalonde, Jade Harley, and… I don’t know their last names but the trolls are Karkat, Sollux, and… Feferi?”

Karkat groaned. “Karkat Vantas, Sollux Captor, and Feferi Peixes… Dumbass.” He said.

“Woah, lil’ Kankri’s got a mouth on him.” Meenah smiled.

“That’s probably the tamest insult you’ll ever hear him say.” Dave said.

“Nice.” Meenah said. “Our Vantas is totally not cool. Except when he gets pissed or stubs his toe.”

“What happens when he stubs his toe?” John asked.

Kankri put a hand up. “Let’s not discuss this.” He said. “Also, Meenah, that was one time. I would appreciate it if you stopped mentioning it.”

“Yeah shore, whatever, nubby.” Meenah said.

If Kankri hadn’t already been frowning, he would have frowned at that nickname, instead he just let out a breath and looked at Karkat. “Where is your base of operations?” He asked.

“Uh…” Karkat said. “No idea.”

Kankri raised an eyebrow. “Do you not have a place where you unite with other rebel forces?” He asked.

“Sort of…” Karkat said. “But the bitch of an empress dragged us away from it and I have no idea which way we came from.”

Kankri stared at him for a moment as if he had said something stupid. “Do you not have coordinates to your base?” He asked.

“Our base is a ship.” Dave said. “No set coordinates. Though it did crash so it’s probably still there if the bitch didn’t destroy it.”

Meenah frowned. “Can we take it a little easy on calling the empress a bitch?” She asked.

“Why the fuck would we do that?” Karkat asked.

“She’s just sensitive about it because she is an alternate universe version of your empress.” Rufioh said. “Just like Feferi is an alternate version of ours.”

“Well our empress is still a bitch whether or not you’re sensitive about it.” Karkat said in a condescending tone.

Meenah furrowed her brows but didn’t say anything and Cronus smirked, seemingly trying to look sexy.

“Putting all of this aside,” Rose chimed in. “Would you happen to know how to get our lions powered back up?”

Kankri’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Just wait or use your bond to share your energy with them…” He said. “How long have you been paladins?” He asked.

“Like, a few days.” John said.

“Well that explains the utter stupidity.” Kankri muttered.

“Sorry.” Rufioh said quickly. “He’s a little um… Temperamental… What he means is that that explains why you seem to know so little about certain things.”

“Whatever.” Dave said. “Can you just track our base ship or something and tow us?”

“We can scan the area for ships, yeah.” Dirk spoke up. “But our scanners won’t be able to identify your specific ship since we’ve never encountered it before so you'll have to ID it when we get close enough to see it.” He pressed a few buttons on his console. “Would it happen to be an altaen ship?” He asked.

“Yes.” Rose said.

Dirk nodded. “I’ll search for altaen energy signals.” He said.

Dave had a million questions he wanted to ask this alternate version of his bro but he didn’t say anything.

“So, Dirk right?” John asked.

“Yeah.” Dirk said without looking up from his console.

“Which lion are you in?” John asked. “Like, are you the impulsive one like our Strider?”

“I’m the smart one.” Dirk said. “Kankri is the temperamental one, Rufioh is the leader, Roxy is the brave one, and Jake is… Well… The other one… Whatever the other one does…”

Dirk was wearing orange armor, Kankri was wearing grey, Rufioh was wearing brown, Jake was wearing purple, and Roxy was wearing pink.

“Cool.” John said.

“Yeah.” Dirk said. “I’m picking up an altaen distress beacon.” He added.

“Alright.” Rufioh said. “Voltron disband, everyone grab a lion and tow them back.” He smiled and all of the wolves broke apart from each other before they each bit down on one of the lion’s tails to pull them across space.

“Wait.” Sollux said. “We need to go back for the Psiioniic.”

“Who?” Karkat asked.

“The Psiioniic.” Sollux said. “He helped us get out. He was the one who caused all the explosions and opened up the bay doors for us.” He paused. “He’s also my ancestor.”

Karkat groaned. “Ancestors aren’t real! I thought you would have more sense than to believe in that bullshit.” He grumped.

“Well I didn’t believe in it until I saw my fucking ancestor on that ship!” Sollux grumped back.

Karkat rolled his eyes and was about to go off about how much he didn’t believe in ancestors and how Sollux was wrong but Rufioh spoke up.

“Well actually ancestors are completely real.” He said. “Kankri and Mituna are alternate universe versions of your ancestors just like you’re alternate universe versions of their ancestors.”

“That’s bullshit!” Karkat shouted.

Kankri let out a deep irritated breath. “It is not bull.” He said. “But regardless of whether or not ancestors exist, we can’t go back for the alternate version of Mituna. Not when all of your ships are out of power, not with such inexperienced paladins such as yourselves, and not when we have just used up all of our energy to get you out of that situation. We are not going back.”

“Fuck you.” Sollux said. “I promised I’d go back for him.”

“Than you shouldn’t be making promises that you can’t keep.” Kankri said. “We’re not going back.”

“Yes we are!” Sollux said.

“Do you suppose you will be able to force us to?” Kankri asked. “Your ships are dead and you’re not winning us over with your attitude.”

“Wouldn’t you want someone to go back for you if you had been a war prisoner and slave for the past thousand or so years?” Sollux asked.

“Believe it or not, I do feel for him, more so than you ever could,” Kankri said. “But we cannot go back for him. Not yet.” He paused. “Next time we fight the empress we can attempt to free him but not now.”

“This is bullshit!” Sollux said. “You’re gonna let him die!”

“With his psionic abilities, the empress will do everything she can to keep him alive until she has found a replacement.” Kankri explained. “Either he lives long enough for you to save him, or he dies and disables the empress’s ship. It’s a win-win scenario.”

“Win-win scenario my ass!” Sollux said. “He’s still being tortured!”

“I understand that,” Kankri said. “But if you try to go back for him now, you will more than likely get us all killed.”

Sollux knew he was right and so he said nothing else, he just stormed out of the cockpit.

Karkat sighed and went after him, finding him in the cargo bay which was practically stuffed full of supplies and recuperacoons.

“Hey.” Karkat said, getting Sollux’s attention.

Sollux turned around to face him before he took off his sunglasses and ran a hand through his hair. “Kk… If I was still stuck on that ship, you would go back for me, right?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course I would.” Karkat said. “You’re my best friend. I wouldn’t leave you behind.”

Sollux nodded a little. “I don’t wanna just leave my ancestor behind.” He said.

“Yeah I know.” Karkat said. “But we don’t really get to choose here. That nooksniffer in the grey armor seems to be in charge right now.”

Sollux nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Why are you so obsessed with your supposed ancestor anyway?” Karkat asked.

Sollux shook his head and shrugged a little. “I don’t know…” He said. “I really don’t know.”

“How’d you even meet him?” Karkat asked. “I thought the Condesce was just going to kill you.”

Sollux shook his head. “No… No, she was gonna have me replace the Psiioniic because he’s dying.” He said. “She shoved me into his little prison room until he would die or until someone could come switch him out with me… I don’t know… But he… He’s a lot like me I guess.”

Karkat leaned up against a box of supplies that was nearly as tall as he was. “I would hate meeting my ancestor…” He said. “I already hate that nubby horned asshole from the other Voltron, I’m betting I’d hate my actual ancestor too.”

“I think everyone hates the nubby horned grey prick to be honest.” Sollux said.

“I’m not as insufferable as he is, am I?” Karkat asked.

“You are insufferable, just in a different way.” Sollux said. “At least you’re less of a prick and more of a bitch.”

“Well fuck you too.” Karkat said, but not in a serious way.

Sollux smiled a little.

* * *

About an hour passed by on the planet where the castle was crashed when it began to rain acid onto the planet’s surface and Lance knew why Cosmo had wanted him back in the ship, as the ship’s particle barrier protected the castle from the rain but the pod ship would have been defenseless.

Cosmo laid next to Keith’s healing pod and only moved to get up when one of the pods would open up and let someone out. After greeting the new person, Cosmo would lay back down next to Keith, waiting for him to wake up.

So far, Equius, Tavros, Gamzee, Kanaya, and Rolo had been fully healed and had woken up.

Rolo and Lance took Equius and Nepeta down to each of the rooms that had suffered a lot of damage and Equius and Rolo each did their best to put things back together.

Lance was still keeping a close eye on Keith and every moment that he didn’t wake up made Lance more anxious. He was currently standing by the healing pod, looking down at Keith when Rolo started talking to him through the coms.

“Lance,” Rolo said, “We managed to get all the essential systems fixed but we’re still relying on reserve power until we can find a new crystal for the ship.”

“Okay, great.” Lance said simply.

“Has anyone responded to the distress signal yet?” Rolo asked.

Lance stared at Keith for another moment before he walked over to the panel in the room to check if they had gotten any responses. Nothing. “No… Not yet…” He said.

“Okay. Keep me posted.” Rolo said.

“Yeah…” Lance said, looking at the panel for a moment before walking over and leaning down in front of Cosmo to pat him on the head. Cosmo wagged his tail a little and Lance stood back up to go to the bridge, assuming Keith was in good hands.

Once he got to the bridge, he walked over to his pilot’s station and placed his hands on the two control sticks, opening up a holographic view of the planet, which looked a bit glitchy, presumingly because of the ship’s damage.

He checked again for life-forms and was surprised to see that there were three of them only a few miles away from the ship now, though underground. He wondered if they had picked up the distress call. He zoomed in and watched as they slowly moved towards the ship. After a moment, a hailing message popped up and Lance quickly answered it, opening up a transmission that showed all of the paladins from all of the ships as well as their non-paladin counterparts.

“Sup?” Roxy asked before he could ask who any of the new people were.

“Uh… Hey.” Lance said before looking at the people he knew, relieved that they were all alive. “Are you okay? How did you guys get away?” He asked.

“We kinda got lucky.” Dave said. “Also these guys in some alternate version of voltron showed up and bailed our asses out of the fire.”

“An alternate version of… What?” Lance asked. “There’s only one Voltron.”

“Nope.” Roxy smiled.

Lance looked confused for a moment but shook it off. “Where are you guys?” He asked.

“We’re just above the planet you’re on.” John said. “We can’t come down yet though ‘cause Dirk said it was raining acid.”

“Yeah it is.” Lance said. He was about to say something else as well but was interrupted by Karkat.

“Is everyone okay?” He asked.

“Everyone is alive.” Lance said. “Most of them are in healing pods though.” He added.

Karkat nodded, just happy that his friends were alive.

“How’s the ship?” Rose asked.

“Not great.” Lance said. “We still have our emergency reserve power but the crystal that runs the ship is absolutely shot. Equius and Rolo are fixing everything they can right now but without a new crystal, we’re pretty much screwed.”

“What kind of crystal do you need?” Jake asked and Dirk sighed.

“Jake, it’s an altaen ship. What the hell kind of crystal do you think they need?” Dirk asked.

Jake was silent for a moment. “A balmeran crystal?” He asked, completely unsure.

“Yes, Jake. Just like every other altaen ship in existence.” Dirk said, slightly annoyed.

Dave looked at Dirk for a moment, wondering why he seemed so annoyed with Jake when he seemed chilled out with everyone else.

Jake just shrugged with a smile and Dirk shook his head a little as he looked down and pressed a couple of buttons on his control panel.

“It looks like there’s a balmera that’s not too far away…” Dirk said. “Maybe a few days trip there, a few days trip back.”

Rufioh nodded. “We’ll head that way and get you a crystal.” He offered.

“What about the other paladins?” Kankri asked. “You don’t expect us to carry their weight for the entire trip, do you?”

“No, we can just leave them here.” Rufioh said. “Their ships shouldn’t take too much longer to come online so we can just chill here for a little while and then when they are back up and running we can head out.”

"Superb…" Kankri said, irritated that they would have to wait with them until their ships powered back up.

After a moment, there was a small shriek from Karkat as Cosmo appeared beside him, surprising him and causing him to fall out of his chair.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Karkat yelled as he got as far away from Cosmo as he could.

"Sorry!" Lance said. "That's Cosmo. He's Keith's teleporting dog." He paused. "He's friendly."

Cosmo disappeared again, teleporting to the outside of the ship and sitting on top of it before teleporting the entire thing into its hanger and coming back for the the others, but leaving the wolf ships outside.

"What just happened?" Jane asked.

"Cosmo must have teleported them somewhere." Lance said.

"It's fine." Rose said. "We're in our hangers."

"Okay." Lance said. "That's good."

"Yes it is." Kankri said. "Now we can leave." He added, already reorienting his ship to do just that.

"Okay!" Roxy said happily. "We'll be back in a few days!"

"Okay. Thank you." Lance said.

"No problem." Dirk said, ending the transmission and taking off with the others.

* * *

The paladins, as well as Sollux and Feferi, all left their hangers and headed to the medical room, save for Karkat who headed to the bridge, looking for Lance.

When he got there, he found Lance still watching the life sign signatures underneath the ground.

“Hey…” Karkat said in a somewhat low voice as he walked over to Lance.

Lance turned to look at him. “Hey.” He said. “How are you doing?” He asked.

Karkat just shrugged and looked at the ground while he stood next to Lance.

“I’m glad you guys are okay.” Lance said.

“Yeah, same.” Karkat said. “About you guys, I mean… And us, I guess.”

Lance looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Karkat took a deep breath. “Look, I know I said I would try to be a leader and everything but… I just… I don’t know…” He paused. “I mean, you have the other voltron to help you now… And John and Jade don’t want to do this anymore… I was thinking that maybe we should just go…”

Lance removed his hands from his piloting sticks and turned his body to face Karkat as the holographic display faded. “Karkat…” He started but was interrupted.

“No, man…” Karkat said. “Seriously… I think we should go… And I think you should drop the others back off on whatever planet they come from ‘cause they aren’t built for this… They’re just gonna get themselves killed and… I don’t know… I think we should all just go home…”

Lance was silent for a moment before he nodded. “Well…” He said. “If that’s what you think is best…”

Karkat lowered his eyebrows and looked up at Lance. “You’re not gonna try and convince me to stay?” He asked.

Lance shook his head. “No. I’m just going to ask you to think about staying.” He said. “I’m not going to force you to stay though. It’s not my choice, it’s yours. I want you to stay and I want you to be a leader but if you can’t do it then I won’t ask you to.”

Karkat stared at him for a moment before he looked away. He had thought that he didn’t have a choice. He had considered trying to leave and being forced to stay and having to carry on regardless, but now that he had the option to go, he had to think about what might happen if he did. Would there be greater consequences if he left? Would he regret not having done enough if the Condesce were to win? He thought for a moment before Lance spoke again.

“I can’t let you go until the rain stops though.” He said. “After that it’s your choice… But I do hope you stay.”

Karkat looked at him and nodded before walking out of the room.

* * *

After checking on everyone in the medical room, Dave and John headed to the rec room and sat down on the couch next to each other. They hadn’t said much to each other since getting off of the alternian ship and Dave was feeling a little weird about the fact that he had come so close to confessing his love for his friend.

John pulled his phone out and opened up his pictures, looking at a photo of him and his dad as he frowned. 

Dave looked over at John’s phone. “You okay?” He asked.

John shrugged. “I miss my dad.” He said. “I think I wanna go home…”

Dave nodded and looked away from him. “Yeah that shit was pretty intense…” He said.

John didn’t say anything.

“Hey, um…” Dave started. “There’s something that I… I wanna tell you something…” He said. “I was gonna say something before but then Karkat kind of interrupted me or whatever…”

John looked at him. “What is it?” He asked, having nearly forgotten that Dave had tried to tell him something earlier.

“I, um…” Dave said, drawing in a deep breath and looking at his best friend. “I…” He hesitated and John just stared at him. Dave’s breathing picked up and he decided to just go for it, leaning in and landing a kiss on John’s lips, lingering for a moment before pulling away with anxiety in his eyes that John could see through his shades since he was so close to him.

John stared at him, his eyes wider than Dave had ever seen them. 

“Uh…” John said, remaining completely still.

“I love you.” Dave blurted out by accident.

“Uh…” John repeated, a little shocked.

The was an uncomfortably long silence before John spoke again.

“I’m… I’m not gay…” John said.

Dave looked absolutely crushed for only a moment before he shot up off of the couch and laughed nervously. “Uh… Yeah, me neither…” He said.

“What?” John asked. “But you just-”

“What? No. I didn’t do or say anything! What are you talking about?” Dave said, a nervous smile on his face. “Nothing happened here! That’s all just crazy that you would think anything happened because nothing happened!” He continued, his voice breaking. “Is it hot in here?” He asked. “I’m gonna go chill…” He added before very nearly running out of the room.

John sat in silence. He had no idea if he should go after Dave or not but he was too stunned to do anything and so he just continued to sit quietly.

* * *

Dave pretty much jogged all the way to the pool room where Eridan was sitting in what looked like a poolside chair. He was alone and staring at the ceiling and Dave tried to walk past him to the other side of the room where there was a door that led to the hallway containing the bedrooms.

Eridan noticed him and Dave tried to pass by without speaking to him.

“Where are you off to?” Eridan asked.

“My room…” Dave said, not slowing down.

“Want some company?” Eridan asked.

Dave stopped and looked at him. “What?” He asked.

Eridan stood up and walked over to him before shrugging. “Do you want some company in your respiteblock?” He asked.

“Uh… I… No…” Dave said, sensing some flirtatious vibes coming from Eridan.

Eridan shrugged a little. “Okay. Come find me if you change your mind.” He said.

“I… Won’t…” Dave said before Karkat walked into the room, immediately noticing how close Eridan was to Dave and noticing the uncomfortable look on Dave’s face.

Karkat groaned loudly, causing both Eridan and Dave to look at him. “Eridan! Piss off!” He shouted.

“What? Why?” Eridan asked.

“Dave doesn’t want your fucking bulge!” Karkat said. “No one wants your fucking bulge! Stop trying to fuck everyone!”

“I… I wasn’t… I wasn’t doing that…” Eridan said.

“Like shit you weren’t!” Karkat said. “You know, you were a lot more tolerable when you just wanted to date everyone! Now you just want to fuck everyone and you’re super pathetic about it! It’s so fucking annoying!”

Eridan sighed. “Well no one will date me, Kar. Of course I gave up on that!” He said.

Dave took a couple of steps back while Eridan wasn’t looking at him.

“Look,” Karkat said. “I know you’re lonely or whatever the fuck, but maybe stick to the trolls. Okay? The humans aren’t interested.”

Eridan looked a little deflated but simply let out a breath. “I suppose you’re right, Kar.” He said.

“Why won’t anyone date you?” Dave asked Eridan.

Eridan shrugged but Karkat spoke up before he could say anything.

“Because he’s an annoying dipshit, is why.” He huffed. 

Eridan sighed and walked over to sit back down.

“Anyway…” Karkat said. “Do you two know where Sollux is?” He asked.

“Last I knew, he was with you.” Dave said.

“I haven’t seen him since before the crash.” Eridan said.

Karkat sighed. “Okay.” He said before he began walking towards the same door Dave was heading for and the two of them walked beside each other.

The two of them left the room and walked down the hall towards the bedrooms and Dave stopped at his door and watched Karkat walk for a moment before speaking.

“Hey, um…” Dave said, getting Karkat to stop and look at him. “I just wanted to say that you did a pretty decent job on your first mission or whatever…”

Karkat looked at him in confusion. “I literally didn’t but whatever…” He said before he continued walking down the hallway and Jade came walking around the corner. She smiled at Karkat and waved as she passed him and he grumbled something in response.

Dave stood outside of his room and Jade smiled at him too.

“Hey.” Dave said. “I thought you were like, all upset earlier.”

Jade shrugged. “I’m just happy to be alive right now!” She smiled. 

Dave smiled a little. “Well I’m glad you’re happy.” He said, about to go into his room before Jade stopped him with her voice.

“Hey, Dave?” She asked.

Dave turned to look at her again. “Yeah?” He asked.

“Um… Well…” Jade started. “Well with everything that happened, I just… I wanted to tell you that I…” She paused. “I don’t want to die without telling you that I… I really like you and I wanted to ask you if you might be my boyfriend!” She exclaimed.

“Uh…” Dave said. “Sure…” He added, though he wasn’t sure why he said yes.

“Really?!” Jade asked, hope in her eyes.

“Uh… Yeah… Sure…” Dave said, knowing that he didn’t like her that way.

“Oh my gosh!” Jade smiled wide before jumping over to hug her new boyfriend.

Dave hugged her back, regretting all of the decisions he had made within the last twenty-four hours.

* * *

All of the paladins turned in for the night as well as most of the trolls, but Lance spent his time on the bridge, waiting for the three life signs to either come to their location or pass by it, not wanting to be caught off guard if they meant to do them harm.

There were many burrow holes in the planet’s surface and Lance assumed that the life forms could get into the particle barrier’s bounds by simply going underneath it.

After some time, exactly that happened. Lance watched on the screen as three forms crawled up from the underground caverns. Two of them were pitch black while one was pearl white and they all seemed to have scaley, shell-like skin. They all wore rags and one of them held a gun while another held a stick with a piece of metal on the end, and the white one held nothing.

The three of them walked over to the door of the castle and the white one knocked.

Lance spoke to them through the outer intercom.

“Hello, this is Lance.” He said.

The three didn’t say anything but seemed to be trying to get a point across with their hands.

“Can you speak?” Lance asked.

The three all seemed confused, though less about what Lance had said and more about how to communicate back to him.

Lance sighed and continued to talk to them, trying to figure out if they were there to help and after a couple of minutes, Rolo walked onto the bridge and walked over to Lance, having been alerted through the ship's computer about someone being outside.

“Who’s out there?” He asked.

Lance shrugged. “I’m trying to figure that out. It doesn’t look like they can talk.” He said.

Rolo looked down at the holographic display. “Oh.” He said. “Those are carapacians.” He said. “They can talk but only to each other, in a way that’s kind of hard to understand.” He added. “I’ve run into some of their kind. The ones I knew could type in a bunch of languages though so it wasn’t too bad to communicate with them.”

Lance nodded and pressed a button, allowing a keyboard type extension to protrude from the castle next to the outer door. It was normally meant for typing in passwords to unlock the doors but could be used to communicate with the bridge if the coms were ever down.

“Please type your intentions into the keypad.” Lance said into the coms.

The carapacian with the pointy stick began typing and in a moment, a message came through in another language before Lance used the translator on the ship to convert it to english. It explained that the three of them were stranded on this planet and that they heard the ships distress call from a piece of their own broken ship. They came to help and to hopefully find a way off of the planet.

Lance and Rolo read it and Lance looked at Rolo. “You think they’re telling the truth?” He asked.

Rolo shrugged. “I’ve never known carapacians to lie… But then again I haven’t known many carapacians.” He said.

Lance nodded and thought about it for a moment before opening the ship’s doors to let the trio in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay between chapters. I will try to post more frequently in the future but I am easily distracted by other projects tbh.


	9. Chapter 9

Karkat was walking around the castle attempting to find Sollux and finally found him in the cargo bay, sitting on a box of supplies.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Karkat asked as he walked in.

Sollux looked at him. “Waiting for Fef.” He said.

“Again?” Karkat asked. “How late is she this time?”

“About a half hour…” Sollux said, hopping off of the box. “She’s probably just dealing with Eridan or something.”

“Or she’s standing you the fuck up again.” Karkat said, walking over to his friend and leaning against the wall next to the box Sollux was standing next to.

Sollux paused for a moment before shrugging. “Yeah probably…” He said. 

“Why do you put up with this bullshit, dude?” Karkat asked. “She doesn’t give a shit about you.”

“No, she does… She’s just… Weird about it, I guess…” Sollux said. “I think she just doesn’t want Eridan to find out ‘cause he would flip absolute shit over it.”

“Didn’t they break up?” Karkat asked.

“Yeah but they’re back together again.” Sollux said. “Still pale but Eridan still wants to be flush and she doesn’t want that but he is super jealous or whatever the fuck and she doesn’t want him trying to kill me or something if he finds out that we’re sneaking around.”

“She should just tell him to piss off.” Karkat said. “If he can’t deal with her being with someone else in a quadrant that they aren’t even in then he doesn’t deserve to be in any quadrant with her.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.” Sollux said.

There was a comfortable silence between them.

“So anyway…” Karkat said. “I think I’m gonna ditch out once the acid rain stops.”

“I thought we already went over this.” Sollux said. 

“Yeah but now there’s a whole other Voltron so we really don’t need to be involved here.” Karkat said.

“Or we could use the fact that there are two Voltrons to our advantage.” Sollux said. “If you guys can get your shit together for more than half a second and actually do your fucking job than having two fully powered up Voltrons would probably be enough to fuck the empress up.”

“I have my shit together.” Karkat lied. “It’s everyone else that’s the goddamn problem!”

“That’s such bullshit, Kk.” Sollux said. “You have never in your life had your shit together.”

“Oh and I suppose you think that you do?!” Karkat grumped.

“I never fucking said that.” Sollux said. “I just want you to stop bitching and pretending like you’re hot shit when you don’t even know what the fuck you’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing, Sollux!” Karkat lied.

“You’re such a fucking idiot, Kk!” Sollux exclaimed. “Stop fucking lying to yourself! All you’re doing is making the whole situation worse by pretending that you’re in control of the situation when you’re not!”

“What are we even talking about?!” Karkat exclaimed back. “This shit is barely even applicable to my situation!”

“Well maybe I’m talking about more than just what’s happening right now!” Sollux said. “You always act like you know what you’re doing when everyone knows that you don’t and then you bitch and moan when things don’t work out the way that you hoped they would and you’re literally just making things worse because if you would just listen to the people around you and suck it up then everything would be fine, but no! You have to act like everything is so fucking hard for you when it’s not!” He ranted. “This situation is not that fucking difficult! All you have to do is be nice to four other people and fly a fucking ship! Maybe give some orders every once in a while and just don’t be completely fucking useless! If you would just stop pretending like you can’t do that then you wouldn’t be having such a hard fucking time with this! Like, I know you can do this! You’re just refusing because you want to be a miserable cunt or some bullshit!” He paused and looked at his best friend who looked a little surprised. Normally they would fight and call each other idiots but Sollux hadn’t gotten this personal with him in a long time. He untensed his shoulders and tried to look less mad. “I… I’m just saying, Kk…” He continued, now calmer. “You can do this. You’re just… Acting like you can’t…”

“What? So you think I’m lying?” Karkat asked. “You think I’m pretending to be upset or whatever the fuck?” He fumed. “Fuck you! I’m not faking being unhappy and I’m not just pretending I can’t do something! I have my fucking limits, you asshole!”

Sollux groaned. “See! There you fucking go again! Trying to get me feeling bad for you! Just shut the fuck up already!” He exclaimed.

“FUCK YOU, SOLLUX!” Karkat shouted before he began stomping out of the room.

Sollux watched him for a moment before running after him and grabbing his arm, making him stop.

“WHAT?!” Karkat yelled in anger.

Sollux stared at him for a moment before pushing him into the wall and kissing him.  Karkat’s entire body tensed up and he didn’t return the rough kiss as he tried not to touch his friend.  Sollux let him go after a couple of seconds. “I fucking hate you, Kk!” He admitted.

Karkat looked a little disgusted for a moment but was more so confused. “WHAT THE FUCK?!” He shouted.

“I said I fucking hate you!” Sollux repeated, letting go of his friend’s arm and stepping back from him.

Karkat was silent for a moment before all the blood rushed to his face in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “I CANNOT FUCKING  **BELIEVE** THAT YOU JUST DID THAT!” He screeched.

Sollux’s face went golden with the blush of embarrassment and regret. “I… What do you mean?!” He asked. “I thought you hated me!”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU FUCKING TALKING ABOUT?!” Karkat asked.

“What am I talking about?! What are you talking about?!” Sollux exclaimed. “Why else do you fucking run all over the fucking place to find me every damn day just to fucking start yelling at me and fighting?! What the fuck is that about?! I thought you fucking hated me?! What the fuck are you doing?!”

“WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE FUCK?! **WHAT THE FUCK?!** ” Karkat yelled, clutching the sides of his head and looking at anything that wasn’t Sollux.

“What the fuck are you trying to fucking pull, Kk?!” Sollux asked. “We’ve been fucking pitch flirting since we were five sweeps old! I thought you wanted me to do something about it!”

“I WASN’T FLIRTING WITH YOU, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Karkat screeched.

“What the fuck, Kk!” Sollux exclaimed, stumbling away from his friend. 

“OH MY FUCKING GOD!” Karkat exclaimed before taking off out of the cargo bay doors.

* * *

Dave hadn’t fallen asleep yet, as he had been repeating the day he had had over and over in his head. He wasn’t even sure how long he had been awake but he certainly couldn’t fall asleep now that he had confessed his love for John and said yes to Jade’s proposal to date.

He rolled onto his stomach and shoved his head into the pillow, almost hoping that it would smother him in his sleep. After a few minutes, there was a frantic knock at his bedroom door and he raised his head from the pillow.

“Who is it?” He called.

“It’s Karkat! Let me in!” An anxious voice came from the hallway.

Dave groaned and sat up, stretching a little before he stood up and opened the door.

“Hide me!” Karkat said, pushing into Dave’s room and closing the door for him.

“What?” Dave asked, confused.

“I’m freaking out!” Karkat said. “Sollux just made a pass at me and now he won’t stop calling me on my palmhusk and he’s looking for me and I don’t want to talk to him!” He panicked. “He won’t think to look for me in here ‘cause he knows I don’t like any of you.” He added.

Dave rolled his eyes and walked back to his bed, sitting down and looking up at Karkat. “Maybe you should just go talk to him.” He said. “Maybe he just wants to make sure you’re still friends or maybe he wants to ignore that it happened and talk about something else. Or maybe you should just go with it and pretend you like him back so he won’t wanna die.” He huffed.

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’re having a crisis that I don’t want to deal with.” He said.

“Yeah it’s pretty much the opposite of your issue…” Dave said, laying down on his back and staring at the ceiling.

“Ugh…” Karkat groaned, looking around for a place to sit and realizing the room was just as empty as his own. He leaned up against the wall. “Maybe you and Sollux should get together and bitch together about how your best friends don’t want to fuck you.” He said.

Dave lowered his eyebrows and turned his head to the side to look at Karkat. “I don’t want to fuck John.” He said. “I mean… Well… I… Whatever…. That’s not… Ugh…” He turned to look towards the ceiling again. “I just… I love him. You know?” He paused. “I thought that maybe if he knew that maybe he would just like… Love me back… ‘Cause we’re best friends so I thought he would just… Like me back automatically… But I went and fucked everything up by telling him and now I’m gonna have to avoid him and like, Jade asked me out and for some dumb fucking reason I said yes even though that can literally only end in her tears because I don’t like her like that. I mean like, I love her but… Not like that… You know?” He rambled. “God… I swear I’d be better off if I hurled myself out the airlock…”

Karkat rolled his eyes. “Oh for the love of shit…” He groaned. “You’re really fucking pathetic, you know that?” He asked, causing Dave to turn and look at him again. “If he’s your best friend then he’s not going to give a shit that you like him. I don’t give a shit that Sollux put the moves on me because he’s my best fucking friend.”

“But you’re hiding from him…” Dave pointed out.

“Yeah because he’s going to try and talk about it and I don’t want to do that. Like, at all!” Karkat said. “He’s going to feel like he needs to explain himself and he’s probably going to freak out the way you are about John but he just needs some fucking alone time to sort it out in his head and then he’ll go back to pretending it never happened and repressing his feelings or whatever the fuck. Plus he might want a reason as to why I don’t want to be like that with him and I really don’t want to get into that bullshit with him.”

Dave turned to look back at the ceiling and was silent for a moment. “So you think John isn’t going to care that I kissed him and told him that I love him?” He asked.

“Probably not.” Karkat said. “He’ll probably just ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen the way I’m going to with Sollux…” He paused. “But I guess you still have to deal with Jade… I would just tell her that you misheard her or something and didn’t mean to say yes.”

Dave was silent for another moment. “God… He is going to tell everyone I’m gay because he can never keep his fucking mouth shut about anything…” He said.

Karkat shrugged. “Well if he tells Jade then you can just confirm it and dump her.” He said.

Dave sighed. “I don’t want everyone to know, dude.” He said. “I mean… Like… I don’t even think I’m really gay… I just…” He paused. “I’m just going through a phase or something… I shouldn’t have said anything to John…”

Karkat was silent for a moment. “I… I guess I kind of understand that…” He said. “You know… Like going through a phase that you don’t want people to know about…”

Dave turned to look at him.

“Like…” Karkat continued. “We have this romantic situation on Alternia… With quadrants and stuff… I’m guessing you don’t know anything about that because you humans are… Different…”

Dave shrugged a little. “Nepeta told me about your love, hate quadrants when we were talking about her ships…” He said.

“Oh…” Karkat said. “Well… On Alternia… It’s like, kind of unacceptable to not be quadsexual…” He explained. “We have all these romance movies and there’s always the goddamn joke character who isn’t quadsexual and just wants to be with one person in all the quadrants instead of filling them all with different people and it’s really sort of a shitty plot device but… Sometimes I think I… Maybe I don’t want to fill all the quadrants with different people… Maybe I just want to find one person and just… I don’t know… But I sure as hell wouldn’t want any of my friends to know about that…” He paused. “Which is like, the main reason I’m trying to avoid Sollux right now because I know for a goddamn fact that he only wants me in the black quadrant and I mean… I don’t really want to be in a relationship with him at all just because he’s my best friend but… If I were going to be in a relationship with him, I wouldn’t want to just be in one quadrant…”

Dave stared at Karkat for a moment before looking back to the ceiling. “What if it’s not a phase though?” He asked.

“What?” Karkat asked.

“What if we aren’t going through a phase?” Dave asked. “What if I’m gay and you’re not quadsexual or whatever?” He paused. “What if this feeling never goes away?” He sorrowfully pondered.

Karkat was silent for a moment. “But… It has to go away…” He said. “I can’t just  **be** non-quadsexual…”

Dave sat up and looked at Karkat. “We call that monogamous on Earth…” He said. “It’s pretty much the norm…”

“Yeah well being ‘gay’ is pretty much the norm for us but you people freak out about it…” Karkat said. “But no… I have to be quadsexual… Sometimes I think that maybe I am… Like, when I talk to your friend John. He makes me think that maybe I could be capable of just fucking loathing someone without it turning into a mess of quadrant vacillation but-”

“Wait, what?” Dave asked. “You like John too?”

“No. I hate him.” Karkat said.

“Yeah but like, in a romantic sense?” Dave asked.

“Sort of, I guess.” Karkat said. “He’s just so fucking stupid it’s hard not to…”

Dave couldn’t help but smile a little. “Yeah he’s a fucking idiot.” He said.

“Exactly. You understand.” Karkat said. “So yeah sometimes I meet someone and I’m like, yeah, I could see this being in a single quadrant. But then I try to go for it and it turns into a mess.” He continued. “So like, I don’t know… I don’t even know what point I was trying to make…”

Dave stared at him for a moment before he shrugged. “I don’t know anymore… I just wish I didn’t feel this way. You know?” He said.

“Yeah, I get that…” Karkat replied.

* * *

Once John was able to think clearly, he headed to Rose’s room and knocked on the door. After a couple of minutes, he knocked again. About another minute went past, Rose answered. “Hello, John.” She greeted.

“Hey…” John said. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked.

“Sure.” Rose said, stepping aside to let him in and closing the door behind him. “Is something the matter?” She asked.

John was silent for a moment. “So… Has Dave ever like… Said anything about… Liking me?” He asked.

“In what way do you mean?” Rose asked.

“Like… Has he ever mentioned… Being in love with me?” John asked.

“Why do you ask?” Rose asked.

“Because he… He kissed me, and said he loved me but then I said I wasn’t gay and he like, freaked out and ran away…” John explained.

“Oh…” Rose said. “Well to be honest, he has been struggling with those thoughts for some time.”

“Really?” John asked.

“Yes.” Rose said. “He has been quite out of sorts over it lately.”

“Is that what’s been bugging him?” John asked.

“Yes.” Rose said.

“Aw man… I feel really bad now…” John said.

“How so?” Rose asked.

“I was so quick to reject him…” John said. “I didn’t know that that was what has been hurting him…”

“Whether you knew or not, would that have changed the outcome of your decision to reject his romantic advances?” Rose asked.

“Well… I guess not…” John said. “I’m really not gay but… I just feel really bad…” He paused. “I mean, on one hand, I was honest but… Maybe if I had lied and went with it he would be happier… I hate to see him unhappy… You know?”

“John, nothing good will ever come from a relationship formed out of dishonesty and pity.” Rose said. “If you aren’t interested, then you did the right thing in rejecting him. Though I do believe that you should talk to him about it. I know it wasn’t easy for him to admit to his feelings as he has been denying them for quite some time now. I would hate to see him backtrack and begin to repress himself again now that he’s been rejected.”

“Okay…” John said. “I guess I’ll talk to him tomorrow…”

“That would be ideal.” Rose said.

“Okay… I’ll let you get back to bed.” John said.

“Thank you.” Rose said. “Goodnight, John.” She added as she opened the door.

“Night, Rose…” John said, walking out and heading to his own room.

* * *

Karkat and Dave were sitting on Dave’s bed together with their backs leaning against the wall. Dave had snuck some pot onto the ship on the first day they had left the Garrison and had decided to break it out. He wasn’t a huge smoker but his bro had sent him some weed on his birthday every year since he left home and he still had quite a bit of it from his last birthday as well as a small bong that his bro had sent him for christmas a few years ago.

Karkat had no idea what it was when Dave suggested that they smoke for a while and so he just told him it was something that would chill them out and Karkat agreed to smoke with him.

Neither of them were super high at the moment but they were decently chilled out. Dave’s backpack, which held all of his possessions, as he didn’t have many, was sitting in-between them and Karkat was messing with one of the straps.

The two had been sitting in silence for a while when Dave spoke up. “Man… Fuck John…” He said.

“Huh?” Karkat asked, still fiddling with the bag strap.

“Fuck John, dude…” Dave said. “He’s always making fun of gay people and acting like people like me are fuck-ups. Fuck that guy. You know?”

“Yeah…” Karkat said.

“Fuck it! I’m gay, dude…” Dave said. “I’m fucking gaayyy…” He paused. “Dude… My bro would probably fuckin’ lock me out of the house if he knew I was gay…”

“Who?” Karkat asked.

“My bro… He’s actually my dad but… I was born when he was still in high school and my mom didn’t want me so he took me but like… He just sort of raised me like a little brother or whatever…” Dave said. “I don’t actually know his opinions on gay people really but he makes homophobic jokes that are way worse than what John says so I’m assuming that he hates gay people… God… What if he kills me, man? Like, he beats the shit out of me every time I go home for the holidays like, what if I bring a boyfriend home someday and he just straight up murks me, dude?”

“What the fuck is a dad? Or a mom? Or a brother? What the fuck are you talking about?” Karkat asked. “Someone is beating you?” He added.

“Do trolls not have parents?” Dave asked. “Or families?”

“I don’t know what that is, man…” Karkat said.

“Who raises you?” Dave asked. “Like a legal guardian?”

“My lusus…” Karkat said.

“What the fuck is a lusus?” Dave asked.

“My guardian.” Karkat said. “He took care of me.”

“Mmm… Yeah… Probably something like that then…” Dave said.

Karkat was silent for a moment. “Your lusus beats you?” He asked.

Dave shrugged a little. “He calls it training…” He said. “But yeah, he beats the living fucking shit out of me every time I see him…” He paused. “I’m so fucking scared of him, dude… I don’t wanna fight anymore… I just don’t want to… You know? I just… I just wanna be some painfully average guy with a little house in the country or something and a boyfriend and maybe a dog or something… Maybe I’ll learn to garden… Fuck… I wish that were me…”

Karkat was quiet for a moment. “Maybe you should just go do that…” He said. “Just say fuck it… Go make a little place in the woods or some shit… Plant some shit in the yard… Find someone to love… God… That would be great… I’d watch that movie… I wanna see you get all that shit you deserve… You fucking deserve a lover and a dog and a garden and a hive in the country, Dave… Go get that shit that you deserve…”

Dave looked at Karkat for a moment, wondering what would happen if Karkat were his boyfriend before he groaned. “Dude… I’m so fucking desperate… I legit just thought about dating you just ‘cause you’ve been nice to me for like an hour… How fucking pathetic is that, man?” He asked.

“Pretty pathetic…” Karkat said.

“Dude…” Dave said. “No one has ever been nice to me… I mean, John, and Jade, and Rose have been… I think that’s why I love John so much… He’s nice to me… Rose is like a sister to me though and I just don’t like Jade that way. You know? I think it’s just ‘cause I’m pretty sure I don’t like girls but like… John is nice to me so of fucking course I fell in love with him… Why can’t people just be nice to me and why can’t someone be nice to me without me falling for them like, instantly? What the fuck, man…”

“I think…” Karkat started. “I think that you didn’t get enough love and affection when you were younger… I think that’s why you love people who are nice to you… You think any type of kindness is some sort of romantic advance because it’s something you only see in movies about romance… It’s something new…” He said.

“Damn, man…” Dave sighed.

“Yeah… I know things... I watch a lot of romance movies…” Karkat said.

“We should watch some movies together some time…” Dave said.

“Hell yeah…” Karkat said, sliding down the wall a little to stretch out.

* * *

Dave didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered smoking more and chilling out with Karkat but he didn’t remember when Karkat left.

He wasn’t sure what had woken him up but he was feeling very cozy with his blanket wrapped around his waist so snug that it felt like someone was hugging him from behind. He smiled a little and settled back into the warmth of his bed before realizing that he didn’t have a blanket on him when he moved his feet.

He opened his eyes and looked down to see a pair of grey hands wrapped around his waist with one arm’s sweater sleeve rolled up and the other hanging past the hand.

Dave’s breathing sped up and all the blood in his body rushed to his cheeks. He was holding his pillow with both hands and slowly moved one of them down to lightly touch Karkat’s hand, curious about the feeling of his skin. It felt slightly thicker and tougher than human skin and after a moment, he let his hand flatten onto Karkat’s before jumping at the sound of a light knock at the door.

“Dave?” He heard John’s voice calling softly from the hallway and Karkat began to shift in the bed.

Karkat groaned a little and let go of Dave in order to roll over on his other side but seemed to go right back to sleep.

Dave slowly got out of the bed, trying not to wake Karkat up as he slid over to the door, trying to figure out how to open it without letting John know there was someone else in the room with him since the door was electronic and slid open. Dave missed hinged doors that he could open only slightly in that moment. He hadn’t had a door like that since he left home.

“Dave? Please open the door.” John said softly. “I really wanna talk to you.”

Dave hesitated for a moment before John lightly knocked again. He quickly but softly grabbed his blanket and covered Karkat up completely before opening the door and quickly walking out, shutting it behind him as fast as he could, hoping that John didn’t see the big lump on his bed and if he did, he hoped he would think it was a lump of pillows. “What?” He asked John.

“Hey… Can we talk about what happened yesterday?” John asked.

“What are you talking about?” Dave asked.

John hesitated. “I’m talking about the kiss…” He said, blushing a little with embarrassment.

“What kiss?” Dave asked. “There was no kiss.”

“Dave…” John said. “It’s okay… I just… I want to say that I’m sorry… For everything… I’ve been a total ass when it comes to making fun of gay people and I should have been more supportive and I should have been a little more gentle about rejecting you and I shouldn’t have acted so shocked and… I’m just sorry, Dave…”

Dave stared at him for a moment before he looked away and shrugged. “Whatever…” He said. “I’m sort of dating Jade now anyway so it doesn’t matter…”

“What?” John asked.

Dave shrugged again, still not looking at John. “She asked me out and I said sure…” He said. “Not really sure why I said sure but I did, so I guess I’ll be dating her for a while or whatever…”

“But…” John started cautiously and with a quiet voice. “But you’re gay.” He all but whispered.

Dave whipped his head around to look at John. “I’m not gay.” He said sternly, tensing up.

“Bi?” John asked.

“No!” Dave said. “I’m not queer, John!” He yelled in a whisper.

John’s face showed only confusion. “I don’t understand…” He said. “If you aren’t gay or anything then why did you kiss me? Why did you tell me that you loved me?” He asked.

“I didn’t…” Dave lied. “I don’t know why you think I did…”

“Dave…” John started.

“No, dude!” Dave exclaimed in a hushed tone. “Nothing happened. Okay?” He insisted. “I’m not gay!”

At that moment, Dave’s bedroom door opened to reveal Karkat who was wearing boxers and his sweater. He had his usual bags under his eyes and looked like he was still tired.

“Were you trying to smother me in my sleep, Dave?” He asked, barely noticing John at all. “Why the fuck did you put a blanket over my face?”

Dave’s cheeks went red as he and John stared at Karkat.

John looked at Dave. “You were saying?” He asked, a goofy and playful smile pulling at his lips.

Dave looked at John. “No, no, no! This isn’t what it looks like!” He panicked. 

“What the hell is going on?” Karkat grumbled. “And where are my pants?” He asked. “Did you put them somewhere last night?”

“No!” Dave exclaimed quietly. “Why aren’t you wearing them?!” He asked.

Karkat shrugged. “I don’t remember taking them off…” He said.

John raised his eyebrows and stared at Dave and Dave panicked and looked back and forth between Karkat and John before landing his gaze on his best friend.

“Dude… No.” Dave said. “I swear! There’s nothing going on here! Okay?! We were just chilling and smoking pot! Okay?!”

“Okay…” John said, waiting a moment before giving him an obvious wink as a way of saying that he wouldn’t tell anyone.

“Oh my god…” Dave said, putting his head in his hand for a moment before looking at Karkat again. “Dude! Go find your fucking pants!” He ordered.

Karkat rolled his eyes, too tired to care what was going on with Dave and John as he walked back into the room and shut the door.

Dave turned back to John. “Dude… No… You have to believe me… Nothing happened… That’s… That’s not something I would do… I’m not like that, man…”

John tilted his head a little. “What?” He asked.

“I’m technically dating Jade right now and I would never cheat on her.” Dave said. “And also I’m not fucking gay…” He added.

“Dave, I believe you that you didn’t cheat on Jade but… I really wish you would just be honest about everything else…” John said.

Dave hesitated. “I am being honest…” He said.

John grimaced a little at the obvious lie. “I don’t think you should get Jade’s hopes up if you don’t love her…” He said. “I think you should break up with her before it gets serious…”

Dave let out a breath before looking away from John. “I don’t know why I said yes, man…” He said. “I love Jade but… Not like that…”

“Just don’t hurt her. Okay?” John said. “I know she likes you a lot and I don’t want her to get hurt.”

Dave just nodded. “I’ll talk to her…” He said.

“Okay…” John said. “Anyway… Jade, Nepeta, and Lance are making breakfast and almost everyone is fully healed up. We’re just waiting on Keith and Vriska now.”

Dave nodded. “Cool… I’ll go get some fresh clothes on and head to the dining room.” He said.

“Okay cool.” John smiled. “I’ll see you there.” He said before walking away.

* * *

Dave helped Karkat find his pants that neither of them remember shoving underneath the mattress before Karkat headed to the dining room and Dave got some new clothes on and followed him.

Everyone was in the dining room along with the three new people that Lance and Rolo had let in. Dave noticed the three new people and was momentarily confused before deciding that it was none of his business and sitting down in-between two empty chairs.

Karkat sat in the empty chair between Sollux and John and looked at Sollux for a moment before looking down at the table, deciding that he would wait until Sollux talked to him to see how he was feeling about everything.

After a moment, Lance, Nepeta, and Jade walked into the room with three rolling carts. One with drinks on it and with food on the others. It was all the standard breakfast foods from Earth and some from Alternia and everyone helped themselves as the carts were rolled around.

Lance, Nepeta, and Jade all sat down with the girls sitting on either side of Dave.

“Hey, Dave!” Jade smiled and leaned in close to him.

“Hey…” Dave said, trying to offer a smile without looking anxious.

“How did you sleep?” Jade asked.

“Pretty good…” Dave said, not looking at her or engaging with her further before he stuffed some food into his mouth.

“So not to be rude or anything…” Terezi spoke up. “But who the hell are these people?” She asked, pointing her fork in the direction of where she could smell the newcomers.

“They’re carapacians.” Rolo said. “They showed up last night. They had a shipwreck a ways away from here and they’re looking for a ride back to their homeworld.” He explained. “They also agreed to help us in any way that they could in the meantime.”

Terezi nodded as she chewed some food.

“After breakfast,” Lance started, looking at Karkat. “Do you think you and the other paladins could take your speeders out to the carapacian’s wreckage and salvage whatever you can find from it?”

“I guess so.” Karkat grumbled, still tired.

“Okay. Thank you.” Lance replied.

“We have speeders?” John asked.

Karkat rolled his eyes with a groan but didn’t say anything.

“Yeah.” Lance said. “They come with the lion.”

“Oh. Cool.” John said.

“Literally Keith told us that we have speeders during training, dumbass.” Karkat mumbled.

“He did?” John asked.

“Yeah…” Dave said with his mouth full.

“Oh… I must’ve zoned out.” John smiled.

“Idiot…” Karkat grumbled.

John frowned but didn’t say anything and the rest of breakfast was relatively quiet aside from Rolo and Lance explaining that the paladins would need to go underground to get to the wreckage so that they wouldn’t be killed by the acid rain that was still coming down strong.

Once everyone was done eating, everyone but the paladins and Lance went to help clean up the dishes. The paladins got into their armor before Lance gave Karkat his bayard and explained to him how to use it. Karkat quickly caught on and created a sickle with his bayard before heading to his lion’s hanger.

Dave took his time walking to his hanger before hearing footsteps coming up decently fast behind him. He turned his head to see Jade in her armor and he stopped, turning around.

“Hey.” Dave said, thinking that maybe he should talk to her about everything.

“Hey!” Jade smiled and stopped in front of him, laughing a little nervously. “So… I um…” She started. “I was just wondering if you wanted to maybe, um… Maybe have a date tonight?” She asked, face flush.

“Uh…” Dave started. “I don’t know.”

“Right! I mean, of course it depends on everything we might have to do!” Jade said. “We may end up doing some super paladin work or something so we don’t know for sure if we can.” She rambled. “But um… I just, you know… I thought maybe we could have a picnic in the observatory?”

“We have an observatory?” Dave asked.

“Yeah!” Jade smiled. “We can turn off all the lights and have a starlit dinner!” She said enthusiastically, as the observatory had a large ceiling window that she wanted to have as a main source of light for a romantic atmosphere.

“Uhh…” Dave said. “Okay…” He added, losing his nerve to reject her after seeing how excited she seemed.

“Okay!” Jade smiled wide with rosy cheeks. “Cool! I’ll make some snacks and I’ll bring apple juice!” She exclaimed.

Dave stared for a moment before smiling a nervous smile that Jade assumed was new relationship butterflies.

“Uh… Cool…” He said, giving her a thumbs up.

“Cool!” She repeated, laughing awkwardly.

Dave let out a little breath as a laugh, trying to sound like nothing was off. “I’ll uh… See you then…”

“Okay! Looking forward to it!” She blushed, standing awkwardly still for a moment before waving a little and taking off to get to her hanger.

Dave stared at her as she went down the corridor before he slammed his head into the wall, not hard enough to cause harm but hard enough hurt a little.  After a moment of standing there, hating his current situation, he headed to his hanger.

* * *

All of the paladins got to their hangers and got their speeders before taking off down the underground tunnels as they were guided by Lance through their coms.

It didn’t take too long at top speed to get to the underground wreckage sight. There was a large hole above them where acid rain leaked through and caused sizzling on the ground. It appeared that the ship the carapacians had come down in had smashed through the surface and slid off a small cliff and into the underground cavern nearby where the paladins could see signs that the carapacians had been living there for a while, waiting for someone to come help them.

The paladins took their speeders down a path into the cavern and powered them down, taking out their cables that they had brought with them to try to haul the wreckage back to the ship.

Jade and John started picking up objects and debris that seemed to belong to the carapacians and put it back into the ship so that they wouldn’t need to make multiple trips.

Dave, Rose, and Karkat were all hooking up the cables and John peaked over the wreckage to make sure they were far enough away to not hear them before he turned off his coms and gestured to Jade to do the same.

Jade gave him a look of confusion but did as he asked.

“What’s up?” She whispered, assuming he had a secret to tell her.

“Dave told me you two were dating.” John whispered back. “What’s up with that?” He asked.

Jade tilted her head a little. “What do you mean?” She asked.

“I mean like,” John paused. “Why?” He asked.

Jade blushed a little. “I… I really like him.” She said. “I have for a long time so… I asked him out and he actually said yes.” She smiled. “I’m so happy.” She added. “We're going to have a date in the observatory tonight.”

John’s expression was one of concern but he hesitated to speak, not wanting to hurt Jade.

“What?” Jade asked, growing concerned by the expression on his face.

“Nothing…” John said. “I’m glad you’re happy.” He said, smiling a little.

Jade smiled. “Thanks.” She said.

John turned his com back on and Jade did the same.

“You good with that, John?” Dave asked as soon as the coms were back on.

“Huh?” John asked.

“Oh for shit’s sake!” Karkat groaned. “Could you pay attention for more than half a fucking second, Egbert?!”

“Uh, sorry.” John said. “I accidentally switched my com off for a minute.”

“How dumb do you have to be to do that on accident?” Karkat asked.

“Uh…” John said.

“Chill, John.” Dave said. “He’s just cranky. What we were saying though is that we think we can probably pull this thing with four speeders and we wanted you to hang in the back just in case anything falls out. Then you can tell us to stop and pick stuff up.” He explained.

“Oh okay. Yeah.” John said.

“Are you sure you want Egbert in the back?” Karkat asked. “He’s the most unobservant one of us.”

“He’ll be fine.” Dave said. “But hey, you’re the leader. So it’s up to you.” He added.

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Oh… Right…” He said, not used to people just letting him take over a situation. “Uh…” He said. “I think… Rose should be in the back.” He said. “She’s the most observant and I think she would be the quickest to react if we lose something… You know, minimizing the time it would take to go back for it.”

“Okay, cool.” Dave said, completely relinquishing leadership to Karkat, despite not seeming to trust him as a leader up to this point.

“Cool…” Karkat said. “Is everyone okay with that?” He asked.

“Yup!” Jade said, as cheerful as ever.

“Yeah probably the right call.” John laughed.

“I can do that.” Rose smiled.

“Okay… Cool…” Karkat said. “Let’s uh… Let’s finish picking all this shit up.” He added and everyone went to help pick up the remaining debris.

* * *

On the way back, they had to go slow and stopped a couple of times with things falling off of the ship but they managed to haul everything safely into the barrier of the castle before pulling it all into the main hanger where Lance, Equius, and the carapacians were waiting for them.

“Alright, take your speeders back to your hangers.” Lance instructed. “Then check in with me.” He added.

The paladins did as they were told before meeting up and walking back to the main hanger together. Jade walked incredibly close to Dave and Dave could tell that she wanted him to hold her hand, but he didn’t.

By the time they got to the hanger, Rolo was there and he and Equius were looking over the ship while Lance stood with the carapacians.

The paladins walked over to him and he looked at them.

“Okay. Rose, I want you helping Rolo and Equius.” Lance said. “Keith said you studied engineering, let’s put it to use.”

Rose nodded and walked over to the ship.

“I can help!” Jade exclaimed. “I’m more in communications but I studied engineering in high school!” She smiled.

Lance nodded. “Alright, do what you can.” He said.

Jade smiled and looked at Dave, he could tell she wanted to say something, but it looked like she was freezing up. She softened, smiled wide and kissed him on the cheek, her own cheeks deep red, before she walked away to work on the ship.

John and Karkat both stared at Dave.

“What?” Dave asked.

Neither of them said anything. John just walked away and Karkat shrugged. Dave looked back to Lance.

“Anything else you need us to do?” He asked.

“Try to get some training hours in.” Lance said. “Do some group exercises. Try to get in the team building spirit.”

“Okay.” Dave said before he and Karkat walked away in the direction John had gone.

“So,” Karkat started quietly. “You’re just gonna let her believe you like her like that?” He asked.

Dave hesitated. “I guess…” He whispered. “I don’t have it in me to break her heart.”

Karkat nodded. “It sure is gonna hurt her worse when you end up having a breakdown and start avoiding her.” He said.

“Yeah…” Dave said. “Maybe I just have to fake it until I make it though…” He whispered. “Maybe I can just force myself to be straight if I try hard enough.”

“Not a good idea, but sure.” Karkat grumbled.

“Says the guy who is pretending to be quadsexual or whatever…” Dave mumbled back.

Karkat let out a breath. “Yeah…” He said before saying nothing else.

After about a minute, the two of them caught up with John.

“You up for some training?” Dave asked. “We can team up and beat Karkat up.” He teased.

John just shrugged.

“You okay?” Dave asked.

“Yeah I’m fine…” John said in an unusually serious tone. “It’s not like I’m upset or anything about the fact that two of my best friends are about to ruin the whole group because one of them is insisting on lying to the other one which is only going to hurt both of them in the end.” He mumbled.

Dave was silent for a moment, he glanced at Karkat who didn’t say anything.

“Look, man…” Dave said. “I was going to talk to her about it but… She started being all happy and talking about a picnic date and how much she was looking forward to it and I just couldn’t do it.” He paused. “She was just so happy and I couldn’t take that away from her.”

John let out a breath. “The longer you put it off, the more it’s going to hurt her.” He said.

“I know…” Dave said.

“Dave…” John said. “She’s like my sister, okay… I love her. I can’t watch my best friend hurt my sister.” He paused. “Either end it or I’m telling her how you really feel.”

Dave slowed his pace. “John, you have to understand that it’s not easy for me.” He said. “Rose figured it out and so did Karkat. Then I told you because I had a moment of confusion or something. I don’t know.” He paused. “But it’s not something I’m ready to share right now. Especially, right now…” He said, thinking about the fact that there was an alternate version of his bro in his life now and he was scared of how he might react. “Please… Don’t tell her.”

John stopped and looked at Dave who also stopped.

Dave glanced at Karkat who kept walking.

“I’ll be in the training room…” Karkat mumbled, not even looking at them as a way of giving them their privacy.

Dave looked back to his best friend.

“I know it’s hard.” John said. “I’ve never been through it so I can’t say that I understand it but I know it’s been hard on you.” He paused. “I’m not going to tell Jade about the kiss or anything like that because that’s not something I should be telling her… But I will tell her that you only agreed to go out with her because you didn’t want to lose her as a friend and that you don’t like her that way. She might not believe me but that’s what I’m going to tell her if you don’t tell her first. I know you have a date in the observatory tonight because she told me. I’m going to stop in and if you haven’t told her by then, I will. I know you don’t want to hurt her but that’s all you’re going to do if you lie to her. I’m sorry.” He said, staring at his best friend for a moment before he turned and walked down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

Dave watched him walk away before he headed towards the training room. When he got there, Karkat was already training. He was fighting a couple of drones with his bayard sickle and Dave was impressed with his form, even though he seemed to need to focus on his footwork a little more.

“Hey.” Dave said once Karkat took out the drones. “Mind if I join in?” He asked.

“Go for it.” Karkat said. “You want team up or versus?” He asked.

“Team up.” Dave said. “I hate fighting real people.”

“Right.” Karkat said, walking over to a control panel. “Do you want the big fighter drones or the little laser drones?” He asked.

“Little laser ones to start, I guess.” Dave said.

Karkat nodded and pressed some buttons. “How did it go with Egbert?” He asked.

Dave shrugged, sighing a little. “He said he’s gonna crash my date and tell Jade I don’t love her if I don’t tell her myself.” He said.

“I don’t know John that well but just from what I know of him, that doesn’t sound like something he would do.” Karkat said.

“Yeah…” Dave said. “He’ll probably show up and lose his nerve because he also won’t be able to hurt her.”

Karkat shrugged. “Maybe you should just not go.” He said. “Just train and say you’re too tired and then just keep doing that until she loses interest and decides to break up with you.”

Dave shrugged his eyebrows. “I guess that’s not a terrible plan.” He said. “Not a great one but also not terrible.”

“That’s a good way to describe all my plans.” Karkat said.

“I don’t know.” Dave smiled. “You sure seemed like a leader today at the wreck.”

Karkat looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “We were dragging debris, not taking out a warship.” He said. “Plus I just told you people what was so clearly obvious.” He added. “You can’t have your most blind and oblivious team member be a spotter. Everyone knows that.” He grumped.

Dave shrugged. “Alright. Whatever, captain grumpy.” He smiled, leaning against the wall next to the console.

Karkat glanced at him before pressing another button.

“Simulation begins in twenty seconds.” The ships computer announced. “Team building exercise zero point four. Defense oriented.” It continued before entering into a countdown.

Dave and Karkat walked to the middle of the room and held up their bayards with only a couple of seconds left.

Once the countdown ended, ten small flying circular laser drones flew out from openings in the walls that closed once they were all in the room. They all took on a formation and began shooting while Dave and Karkat blocked the attacks and tried to keep each other from getting hit while also defending themselves.

The two of them spent hours in the training room, gradually going up to more and more challenging fights, most of which were focused on self defense and protecting each other. Sometimes they would lose and sometimes they would win. Dave helped Karkat with his footing and Karkat helped Dave understand that he needed to communicate more during the battles.

After quite some time, Nepeta walked into the room and watched them, waiting for their current simulation to end before calling them over.

“Hello!” She smiled. “Jade wanted me to give you this.” She said, holding out an envelope for Dave. “She said that she is looking forward to seeing you in the observatory and she brought a blanket, a pizza, and a galleon of apple juice.”

“What time is it?” Karkat asked, sweaty and confused.

Nepeta shrugged. “It’s getting late.” She said. “Lance is making dinner if you want some Karkitty.”

Karkat just nodded.

“Okay.” Dave said. “Can you tell Jade that I need to get a shower and some clean clothes and then I’ll meet her in the observatory?” He asked.

“Okie dokie!” Nepeta smiled before walking out of the room.

“What’s that?” Karkat asked, gesturing to the envelope.

Dave opened it and pulled a note out. “Uh…” He said. “It started with an apple, falling from a tree,” He read aloud. “And Isaac Newton discovered in a pinch, the laws of gravity…” He stopped. “Holy shit she wrote me a whole page poem about apples and how awesome they are and their significance throughout history ‘cause she knows I love aj.” He said. “Holy fuck.” He added, putting his head in his hand. “I can’t fucking do this, man.” He said. “I can’t fucking break her heart! She’s literally the kindest motherfucker in this whole damn universe! No one has ever written me a goddamn poem before!” He exclaimed, flustered and annoyed. “How am I supposed to show up and be like ‘sorry, I’m breaking up with you even though you’re the coolest person ever. Like I know you spent probably an hour or something on the poem and then got all that shit around for our date and had the fucking catgirl deliver your poem like it’s the goddamn sixteen-hundreds but I don’t like you like that and totally led you on. Bye.’ Like… I can’t fucking say that!” He ranted, throwing his hands in the air.

Karkat stared at him for a moment. “Don’t show up.” He said. “That should get the message across without having to say anything.”

Dave rested his head on the console. “Dude… I feel like such an asshole. I should never have said yes to her.” He said.

“Yeah, well… Too late now.” Karkat said. “I’m gonna go get changed and get my own pizza.” He added. “Then I’m gonna hang out in the game room. Feel free to hang out if you decide to ditch your date, I guess.” He offered, walking out of the room.

Dave stood, staring at the poem for what felt like forever before he decided to go shower and decide what to do afterwards.

* * *

Karkat did exactly what he said he was going to do and brought a whole large pizza into the game room to relax away from other people, not expecting Dave to join him.

He started eating a piece of the pizza while he looked for any alternian games on Lance’s piracy database when he heard the door open behind him.

“You decide to ditch?” He asked, assuming it was Dave.

“What?” Sollux’s voice answered, causing Karkat to turn his head and look at him.

“Oh. Hey.” Karkat said, standing up and stepping around the couch.

“Hey…” Sollux said. “I just, uhm… Wanted to say like, I totally get it. You aren’t pitch for me and that’s fine. I just got some signals mixed up. Or rather, there were no signals and I just got confused ‘cause I thought maybe there might have been and…” He paused. “Anyway I just wanted to let you know that I’m cool with it and I wanted to make sure we’re still friends.”

Karkat nodded. “Yeah we’re still friends.” He said. “Sorry I avoided you all day and last night. I just wanted you to take a minute and think your shit through before you tried to talk about it.”

“Yeah I get that.” Sollux said. “It’s never a good idea to talk about shit when you’re still confused about what happened or whatever.” He paused. “So yeah. Sorry I slammed you against a wall and jammed my tongue into your mouth.” He laughed a little, cheeks golden.

“Yeah you’re forgiven and everything but maybe don’t do that again.” Karkat said. “Like ever.” He added.

Sollux nodded. “Okay.” He said.

There was a silence between them before Dave walked into the room.

Sollux took a breath and smiled at Karkat. “Anyway,” He said. “I have a date with my moirail so I’ll see you later.”

Karkat waved him off. “Tell Aradia I say hey.” He said.

Sollux gave him a thumbs up before walking out, letting the door close behind him.

Karkat looked at Dave. “Ditching?” He asked.

Dave nodded, looking a little ashamed. “Yeah I think I am.” He said. “You got pizza?” He asked.

Karkat nodded and walked over to sit on the couch before Dave followed him.

“I brought some dips.” Dave said, emptying out his pockets, revealing some buffalo dip, some sriracha dip, some ranch, some barbecue, and something with a label that said ‘Lance’s special dip’ on it.

“How long were those in your pockets?” Karkat asked.

“Not long.” Dave said. “Stopped by the kitchen on the way over.”

Karkat nodded as Dave sat down on the right side of the couch with the pizza between them.

Karkat picked up the controller again and flipped through some games. “Anything you wanna play?” He asked.

Dave shrugged. “Not really.” He said. “Why don’t we just watch something?” He asked. “I feel like I couldn’t really focus on a game right now.”

“Okay.” Karkat shrugged, swapping over to the movies section of the piracy database and went into his saved movies list. “By the way I set up accounts for everyone on here a little while ago.” He said. “Well not everyone. Just the paladins. So now you have your own account and can save stuff you wanna watch or play or whatever.” He explained.

“Okay cool.” Dave said.

“Also I gave everyone a password.” He said. “Yours in ‘big gay bitch’ all one word.” He smiled a little.

“Seriously?” Dave asked.

“No.” Karkat said, glancing at Dave.

Dave smiled a little. “Wow.” He said. “Okay. So what are we watching?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged. “I’m just gonna hit random and whatever pops up is what we have to watch.” He said.

“What if we get some super alien movie about how spores on some weird planet fuck?” Dave asked.

“Then we watch that.” Karkat said. “I’ve got the translator on so everything will be dubbed automatically.”

“Okay.” Dave said.

Karkat hit the randomization button and a movie popped up. “Love, Simon?” He asked. “That’s a short name for a movie…” He said.

“Looks like a human movie but I’ve never heard of it.” Dave said, ignoring Karkat’s comment about the length of the name.

“Should we read the description or just watch it?” Karkat asked.

Dave shrugged. “You said we have to watch whatever comes up so I guess we just have to watch it.” He said.

“Okay.” Karkat said, clicking the play button.

The two of them ate pizza and watched the movie after dimming the lights a little, and it wasn’t long before Dave realized it was a gay movie, causing him to panic a little, but Karkat didn’t seem phased and seemed to be enjoying it and so he didn’t say anything.

Karkat watched in silence as he tried the dips that Dave had brought in, which he later, about half way through the movie, complained were not as good as grubsauce before going back to being quiet. Dave was sweating, and it was not because of the spicy dips but because of the movie and the way he felt himself resisting the urge to relate to the main character.

* * *

Jade sat patiently in the observatory for over two hours. She assumed that Dave had gotten distracted by something and would walk in the doors at any moment. She tapped her feet and hands against the blanket she sat on and looked up at the stars, debating whether she should start eating without her date, but not wanting him to think she had given up on him showing up when he saw some pizza missing.

After another five or so minutes, the door open and she smiled wide, looking around and expecting to see Dave, but frowned a little when it turned out to be John.

“Oh… Hey, John…” Jade said, sounding a little disappointed. 

“Hey.” John said. “Where’s Dave?” He asked.

Jade shrugged a little. “He hasn’t gotten here yet.” She said. “I’m hoping I didn’t scare him away with the poem…” She said.

“You wrote him a poem?” John asked.

Jade nodded a little but didn’t say anything.

“Wait, how long have you been waiting?” John asked.

“I don’t know…” Jade said. “A little over two hours…”

“Seriously?” John asked. “He stood you up?” A momentary anger flashed in his eyes before he softened, not wanting Jade to feel worse about her night.

Jade just shrugged. “Maybe he forgot.” She said. “He does get distracted really easy.”

John let out a breath and walked over to sit next to Jade on her blanket. “Jade… You know I love you like a sister, right? And I would never lie to you.” He said.

“Yeah.” Jade said, a little concerned.

John hesitated. “Dave…” He paused. “He didn’t… He didn’t want to date you…” He said, watching Jade’s face drop. “He told me he wasn’t sure why he said yes when you asked him out. He said that he loves you but not the way you love him and he didn’t want to hurt you because he really cares about you but he doesn’t want to be with you. He said he was just going to fake it though to make you happy and I told him I would tell you if he didn’t.”

Tears pooled in the corners of Jade’s eyes and she looked down at the floor. “So… He never wanted to be with me?” She asked. “He just… Pitied me…”

“I don’t think pitied is the right word.” John said.

Jade wiped away her tears and her expression changed from sorrow to anger. “What?” She asked. “And he wasn’t man enough to come tell me himself? He couldn’t just be a fucking decent friend and say sorry? He had to stand me up when he knew I went through the trouble to set this up?” She shook her head angrily. “I would have been okay with it, you know! If he had shown up and apologized and broken it off! I might have cried a tear or something but we could have just hung out and eaten pizza or something as friends! But he just decided to be a coward about it!” She exclaimed, trying to bite back angry tears.

“I’m sorry, Jade.” John said sincerely.

“It’s not your fault!” Jade said. “I’m glad you told me! If he thinks he can be a coward about this he probably would have just come up with a lie or something and let me believe he wanted to be with me! So I’m glad you told me! Now I can go curse him out for ditching me without a doubt in my mind that he was trying to blow me off!” She exclaimed, angrily getting up and storming out of the room with John only a couple of paces behind her.

“Jade…” John called after her. “Maybe you should go a little easy on him.” He said. “You know he’s been going through some stuff lately…”

Jade ignored him as she turned the corner and nearly collided with Sollux and Aradia.

“You!” She exclaimed. “Have you seen Dave?!”

“Saw him in the game room a little while back.” Sollux answered honestly, not caring at all what her anger was all about.

“Thank you!” Jade exclaimed in anger and continued to stomp in Dave’s general direction with John trailing behind.

* * *

The movie ended and Karkat, all throughout the climax of the film, had been holding back some tears. He kept placing his hand on the side of his head as he curled up into a ball on the couch and sniffled while Dave was absolutely stunned that the gay characters got a happy ending and had to glance over at Karkat to make sure he wasn’t looking before he reached up underneath his sunglasses to wipe away a couple of tears that were just beginning to form.

“Good movie…” Karkat sniffled, trying to sound tough.

“Yeah…” Dave said, watching the credits for a moment before he stood up and grabbed the nearly empty pizza box and took it over to the table.

While he was walking away, Karkat quickly rubbed the tears from his face before jumping up, pretending that he hadn’t been crying and walking over to the table.

Dave grabbed the last piece of pizza out of the box and Karkat stopped.

“That’s my piece.” Karkat said.

“No it’s not.” Dave said.

“Yes it is.” Karkat said. “There were ten slices and I only had four. Plus I made the pizza so I get the last piece.”

“Dude, it’s cold anyway.” Dave said. “Why would you want cold pizza?”

“Because it’s my piece.” Karkat insisted.

“Oh yeah?” Dave asked a little playfully, bringing the slice up near his mouth. “You want this?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Karkat asked.

“What if I just…” Dave said, bringing it closer and opening his mouth, pretending was about to take a bite out of it.

“Don’t you dare!” Karkat exclaimed, reaching up to grab the slice out of Dave’s hand. Dave quickly raised the slice above his own head, knowing Karkat was too short to reach it.

“What are you gonna do now?” Dave asked, laughing a little.

Karkat grumbled something before dropping his hand and walking around Dave. He pulled out a chair and walked back, getting up on it and reaching for the pizza slice.

Dave grinned and quickly moved the slice away from Karkat every time he reached for it as he let out little playful laughs.

“Come on, man!” Karkat let out in frustration, though he was getting a little playful too.

“You gotta work for it!” Dave laughed, jumping a little to keep it out of Karkat’s reach.

Karkat decided to risk jumping on a chair to grab the slice which backfired. He managed to grab the slice but toppled over on top of Dave as the chair got knocked out from under him as he landed on the side of it, causing it to fall.

Karkat fell into Dave and the two of them fell onto the floor with Karkat on top. The pizza slice, as well as Dave’s sunglasses, went flying and ended up on the floor as well.

Dave glanced over at the pizza slice, which was closer to the door now, before looking at Karkat with mischief in his eyes. Karkat understood instantly and they both went for the pizza.

They struggled and wrestled to keep each other down as they got closer before Karkat finally pinned Dave by sitting on him and holding his arms to the floor by the wrists.

“What are you gonna do?” Dave asked, mere inches away from the pizza slice. “You can’t hold me down forever and the second you let go I’m gonna get that slice.” He grinned, wanting that gross floor pizza more than anything.

Karkat shook his head, heaving out a breath but smiling. “You think you’re fast enough to get it before I can?” He asked.

“Hell yeah.” Dave grinned.

“Bet I can get it without getting off you.” Karkat said.

“Bet you can’t.” Dave said.

Karkat grinned. It was a genuine, happy grin and Dave smiled at the sight of it before Karkat shifted, rocking to the side and leaning down to try and grab the pizza with his mouth.

The movement caused a sudden shiver in Dave’s pants and he froze up, not fighting Karkat’s attempt to get the pizza out of mild shock as he tried not to think about the fact that there was a boy sitting on his crotch.

Karkat could almost reach the slice with his mouth, he was able to touch it with his tongue but he couldn’t pull it any closer without letting Dave go.

After a moment, Dave composed his thoughts again, pushing it all out of his head and laughing at Karkat.

“So close!” He smiled. “Yet so, very far away!”

“Shut up!” Karkat said, still trying to grab the pizza. “I can get it!”

Dave let him try for a few moments before Karkat finally gave up and collapsed in defeat on top of Dave.

Dave laughed. “Do you hereby surrender the slice to me, making me the lord of pizza?” He asked playfully.

Karkat sighed into Dave’s shoulder. “Yeah…” He groaned playfully before lifting his head only about three inches above Dave’s face.

“I wish I was wearing a ring.” Dave said. “Then I could make you kiss my ring.”

Karkat tilted his head a little, not understanding the reference.

Dave smiled. “It’s a human thing.” He said.

“Oh.” Karkat said, smiling down at him.

The two of them were silent for a few moments aside from their breathing and Karkat finally let up on Dave’s wrists but didn’t move to get off of him. His smile slowly faded as he stared into Dave’s eyes and Dave stared back, mirroring his expression. There was affection in their eyes and they both saw it.

Dave let Karkat sit on top of him, not saying a thing while he soaked up the details of his face and the romantic atmosphere they had created with their chosen movie.

Karkat was as still as a stone until he seemed to slowly test the waters by sliding his hands up a little so that they were on top of Dave’s. Dave didn’t move away and even curled his fingers in with Karkat’s.

Karkat slowly leaned in and Dave raised his head only a little, subconsciously longing to be closer.

Their noses touched and neither of them pulled back. They stared at each other, both of them slowly closing their eyes before Karkat leaned in the rest of the way, letting their lips connect.

Dave let out a sharp breath but didn’t pull away. The only other kiss he had ever had was with John the previous day and so he knew he wasn’t good at it but it felt fantastic. Karkat was kissing him and he was kissing back and holding his hands. He was kissing a boy and that boy was kissing back. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as Karkat pulled back for only a second before leaning in again for round two.

This wasn’t the kind of kiss that would go along with a makeout session but the kind that was tender and soft and sweet. Everything that Dave had assumed Karkat wasn’t. He felt like he was in love already as Karkat let go of one of his hands, in order to gently cup his face. Dave place his free hand on Karkat’s side and continued to kiss him, losing himself in him and forgetting that a world outside of him existed.

“Dave!” Jade’s voice rang through the room as her and John looked down in shock.

Karkat rolled off of Dave who grabbed his sunglasses and put them on before the two of them jumped to their feet, getting as far away from each other as possible without walking around any furniture.

Jade stood with her mouth hanging open as John stared at his best friend with an emotion that Dave thought looked almost like anger or malice.

Dave’s face was on fire and his breathing sped up as he felt like he might cry but forced it inside. The best moment of his life so far was over and now everyone was going to know his deep dark secret.

“I…” Dave started. “This isn’t… What…” He breathed, trying to stay calm.

Jade’s eyes filled with tears in a mixture of anger and sadness as she realized why the boy she loved could never love her back. She took off running down the hallway to her room and John went after her.

“Jade wait!” Dave called after her, running out of the room but not following them. “John?!” He asked softly, hoping he would turn around but he didn’t.

Karkat stayed where he was, not wanting to cause any more problems and feeling like this might be his fault.

Dave stood in the hallway and watched his friends until he couldn’t see them anymore before a tear rolled down his cheek. Karkat saw it and took a couple of steps towards the door.

“Dave, I…” Karkat said softly. “I’m so sorry…”

Dave looked towards him, quickly wiping his cheek with his shirt sleeve. “You don’t need to be.” He said quietly. “You didn’t do anything.”

“I… I feel like this is my fault.” Karkat said. “I’m sorry.” He repeated.

Dave shook his head. “No. Don’t be.” He said. “This is my fault.”

Karkat didn’t say anything and after a moment of silence, he took a few more steps in Dave’s direction, joining him in the hallway.

Dave sniffled a little, not letting himself cry. “I… I need to go lay down.” He said.

Karkat nodded and looked down, still looking ashamed of himself.

Dave hesitated for a moment before he gently tilted Karkat’s face up by his chin, causing Karkat to look at him. Dave leaned in and landed a small, soft, short kiss to Karkat’s lips before pulling away but keeping the distance between them short. “This wasn’t your fault.” He whispered.

Karkat nodded, though hesitantly, before Dave gently removed his hand from his chin and walked towards the bedrooms.

* * *

Dave laid in bed, trying not to cry. He was so terrified that he had just lost two of his best friends in the world and the fact that he was alone felt like a crushing weight on his chest. He had tossed his sunglasses onto the table next to his bed and had the lights completely off and the door locked as he laid fully clothed underneath his blankets. Wrapped up and quietly letting tears seep out to wet his sheet.

After about an hour, a soft knock at the door caused him to sniffle, trying to hide the fact that he was crying. “Who is it?” He asked quietly.

“It’s Rose.” Rose’s voice called back softly.

“Go away…” Dave said, just loud enough for his friend to hear him.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Rose said. “But I promise, if you let me in, I’m only here to talk to you about what happened. I’m not here to judge.” She added, waiting for him to tell her what to do.

Dave was quiet for nearly a minute before he got up and unlocked the door, putting his sunglasses on to hide his puffy eyes and keeping the lights off before opening the door and standing aside to let her in.

She walked in, letting him close the door before she spoke. “Jade is still crying.” She said softly. “I think she finally understands why you were so uninterested and I think she knows there isn’t a future to be had with you now.”

Dave sat down on his bed. “I didn’t want to hurt her.” He said quietly.

“I know.” Rose said, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his back, knowing how much he secretly craved all types of physical affection.

Dave let out a breath that sounded more like a short and quiet sob.

“I want you to know that John is still your friend.” Rose said softly. “He’s mad because you technically cheated on Jade but he says he’s still your friend.”

Dave let his head lean onto Rose’s shoulder in a moment of vulnerability and she placed her hand on his head, running it gently through his hair to comfort him, just as she had done to Jade for nearly a half an hour before coming to his room.

“It’s going to be okay.” Rose assured him. “Jade will be angry for a little while, perhaps a long while, but she loves you. You’ve always been one of her best friends and she will always love you as such.”

Dave didn’t say anything as the minutes passed.

“May I ask about Karkat?” Rose asked, breaking the ice on the topic.

Dave just lightly shrugged into her shoulder.

“If I may ask,” Rose began. “Is there something romantic there? Or was it just because John rejected you?” She asked.

Dave was quiet for a minute. “I don’t know.” He finally said. “I… I don’t know… He kissed me… So I don’t think… I don’t know but I don’t think it was because of John…”

Rose was quiet, knowing that he wasn’t done explaining.

“We watched this romantic movie and then, we were messing with each other and fighting over a pizza slice and we ended up on the floor and…” Dave paused. “And I just… Melted… He’s so much kinder than I thought, and soft, and I think he likes me and… I’ve never been liked by a boy before so I didn’t stop him, and I think I loved it... Being with him… When he kissed me it was like nothing else mattered…”

“Well…” Rose said after a moment. “It sounds to me like there is something there.” She smiled encouragingly, even though Dave was not looking at her. “I think you should pursue it.”

Dave was silent and Rose knew what he was thinking.

“Yes, it will hurt Jade and it will probably confuse John and make some people look at you funny.” Rose said. “But if you feel love, you need to chase it.”

Rose felt a droplet hit her shoulder and knew Dave was crying.

“I love you like a brother.” She said. “And I want you to be happy.”

Dave moved to wrap his arms around her waist for a hug which she returned. He mumbled something that sounded like an ‘I love you too’ but Rose couldn’t be sure, as his face was buried in her shoulder and he had stopped trying to hide his sobs.

Rose stayed with him for over an hour, waiting for him to calm down, before she all but tucked him in and let him sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Dave woke up feeling like he had overslept. He felt rested for the first time in at least a year and actually felt good until he remembered the fact that he had upset two of his best friends. He sat up, running his hands through his hair before he got up to get a shower.

He took his time washing his hair and body and let the warm water relax his muscles, thinking that the longer he was in the shower, the longer he could avoid his friends. He remembered Karkat and the kisses they shared and smiled a little before frowning, remembering what those moments had cost him.

He thought about Karkat. Karkat was always so grumpy and rude and somehow he was so kind and gentle the previous night. He supposed he understood that. He himself put on a cool guy persona a majority of the time, though he assumed that facade was ruined now, at least around Rose seeing as she had seen him blubber like a baby the previous night.

He sighed and realized that he was running low on hot water and had no other spots on his body that he could possibly scrub anymore and so he got out, wrapping a towel around himself before walking out to his room in order to get some clothes from his backpack.

He sniffed all of his clothing choices before settling on the only things that didn’t smell bad which was a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He figured he would go and do his laundry if he could remember where he had been told the laundry room was, so he packed all of his clothes into his bag and zipped it up before putting on his shades and opening his door to see Karkat, just standing there.

Karkat’s cheeks went red but he didn’t say anything.

“Hey.” Dave said.

“Uh, hey.” Karkat said.

“How long have you been standing here?” Dave asked.

“I don’t know…” Karkat said, slightly cranky sounding. “Does it matter?” He asked.

“No… I guess not.” Dave said.

“Good…” Karkat said. “You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I guess.” Dave lied.

“Okay…” Karkat said. “Do you wanna hang out or anything?” He asked.

“I mean, I gotta do my laundry but if you wanna hang out with me while I do that, yeah.” Dave said.

“Yeah…” Karkat said. “Great. Fantastic. Laundry!” He exclaimed, seeming like he was trying to cover up being nervous by acting angry.

“Are you okay?” Dave asked.

“I’m just fine.” Karkat asked. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. You sound pissed.” Dave said.

“I’m not pissed!” Karkat exclaimed. “Let’s go do your dumb fucking laundry!” He said, walking in the direction of the laundry room.

“Okay.” Dave said, following him. “You got any laundry to do?” He asked.

“I only own one outfit.” Karkat said.

“Oh so that’s why you smell.” Dave smiled a little.

Karkat glanced at him, realizing he was joking and smiled a little. “I don’t smell.” He said.

“Do you wanna borrow some of my clothes so you can wash yours?” Dave asked. “I can’t say they won’t be smellier than yours but at least I can wash mine without having to be naked so you can wear mine then switch to yours while I clean my stuff.”

Karkat just shrugged. “I don’t think we’re the same size.” He said, as he was shorter than Dave.

Dave shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He said.

The two of them walked in silence until they found the laundry room and Dave emptied out his bag into a washer, being careful not to put anything that wasn’t clothes into it.

“Last chance to add your clothes.” Dave said.

Karkat sighed and looked around, seeing an open dryer with clothing hanging out of it. He walked over and rummaged through it, realizing it was Sollux’s clothes which was closer to his size, though still slightly off, as Sollux was also taller than him.

“He’s got two of everything.” Karkat said. “I’ll just wear his underwear so I can wash mine.”

“Nice.” Dave said. 

“Turn around.” Karkat said. “I’m gonna change.”

“Right.” Dave said, turning around before he realized he could see Karkat in the reflection of a dryer window. He watched him take off his shirt before he closed his eyes to give him more privacy.

“Okay.” Karkat said after a minute.

Dave opened his eyes and turned around to see Karkat in a pair of yellow boxers that looked like it had a pattern showing a bunch of alternian bees on it. He was holding the rest of his clothes to his chest and Dave reached out a hand.

Karkat gave him his ball of clothing before he walked over and sat on top of a washer.

Dave added it to the load and started it with some laundry soap that was already set out by the washer Sollux had used before walking over and joining Karkat by sitting on the washer next to his.

Dave glanced at Karkat, trying not to look down at his nearly naked body, but he was curious.

Karkat noticed and his face went a little red.

“Sorry.” Dave said. “I’m just… Curious ‘cause… You know… You’re an alien…”

“It’s fine…” Karkat said.

There was a silence between them as they listened to the washing machine make its whirring sounds before Karkat spoke, seemingly softer than he had been earlier.

“Hey Dave?” He asked.

“Yeah?” Dave replied.

“Last night…” Karkat started quietly. “When we… Um… Was that like… A one time thing or, um…” He paused. “Or do you want… More than just a one time thing?”

“You mean, kissing and stuff?” Dave asked a little awkwardly.

“Yeah…” Karkat said.

“Yeah…” Dave said. “I um… I’d be down for that… Like if we kept doing that…”

Karkat looked at him. “Really?” He asked.

Dave looked at Karkat. “Yeah.” He said, cheeks rosy.

Karkat’s entire face turned red as he stared at Dave, seeming to inch forward. Dave understood and closed the gap between them, allowing their lips to touch.

The sunglasses were a little bit of an uncomfortable obstacle for them both but neither of them wanted to break away to take them off of Dave’s face.

“Aw what the fuck, Kk.” Sollux’s voice could be heard from the door.

Karkat and Dave jumped away from each other and looked at Sollux, both with red faces.

“Why the fuck are you wearing my underwear?” Sollux asked, not seeming to care about the fact that Karkat was kissing a human.

“Uh… I had to wash my clothes and you left yours in here.” Karkat said.

Sollux sighed. “I just washed those.” He said. “I washed them because I needed them so I could wash the ones I’m wearing.” He added, annoyed. “Which I was about to do. You’ve thrown off my whole plan for the day.”

“Sorry.” Karkat said.

Sollux stared at him a moment before softening. “Wait, are we not fighting anymore?” He asked. “Like, at all? ‘Cause you don’t normally just say sorry and move on. Did I ruin our rapport?”

“No.” Karkat said. “I just… I’m kind of in the middle of something…” He flushed in embarrassment.

Sollux stared at Dave for a moment, narrowing his eyes beneath his sunglasses. “Yeah, okay.” He said. “Never thought you would go flush for an alien though…” He grumbled. “Or pitch?” He asked, shrugging. “Guess it’s none of my business though.” He added, walking out of the room. “Let me know when you’re done with my clothes!” He called as he headed away.

The boys were silent for a moment.

“Maybe we should wait until we’re in private to do this kind of stuff…” Dave said, still red-faced.

“Yeah, maybe…” Karkat said, not looking at him. “So do you know if Egbert and Jade are pissed at you or whatever?” He asked.

Dave shrugged. “I guess John is mad because I sort of cheated on Jade which is something I told him I would never do and I’m guessing Jade is gonna be pissed for a while but John told Rose that he’s still my friend so there’s that.” He said.

Karkat nodded. “Is Rose cool with everything?” He asked.

“Yeah totally.” Dave said. “I could throw a rock through her window and she would be supportive. Unhappy, but supportive.” He smiled a little.

“Cool…” Karkat said, trying to be subtle as he slid his hand over to touch Dave’s.

Dave smiled and took Karkat’s hand in his, scooting a little closer to him.

* * *

Vriska had woken up completely healed only minutes ago and was greeted by Terezi, who had spent most of her time waiting for her to wake up. Vriska immediately demanded they go to the kitchen so that she could fill her starving alien stomach and so when Lance came to check on Keith, it was just the two of them and Cosmo in the room.

Lance checked Keith’s vital signs and they were all good. All of the information showed that he should be waking up any minute now and so he waited patiently.

When the healing pod finally opened, Lance looked down at Keith, as his pod was still horizontal, as they didn’t want to move him or his pod during the healing process.

Keith tiredly opened his eyes and looked up at Lance. He smiled a little. “Hey…” He said groggily. “I was just dreaming about you…”

Lance smiled. “How you feeling?” He asked.

“Good.” Keith said. “Rested. Kind of fog-headed though.”

“Yeah, you’ve been in the healing pod for a while.” Lance said, standing up and holding out his hand to help his friend.

Keith took his hand and sat up before standing up and hopping out of the pod. Cosmo stood up and wagged his tail vehemently before licking Keith’s face.

“Hey, buddy!” Keith smiled and pet his dog. “What are you doing here?”

“He showed up and saved me from some acid rain.” Lance said. “Got the paladins home too.”

“Acid rain?” Keith said, looking back to Lance and realizing he was still holding his hand before letting go of him. Cosmo took a couple of steps away and sat down.

“Yeah.” Lance said. “We’re kind of stuck on this planet and we’ve had to have the shield up because it’s been raining acid but we’ve been able to help a group of carapacians that were trapped here and once the others get back with a new crystal we’ll be able to head out.”

“The others?” Keith asked.

“Yeah.” Lance smiled. “You might not believe this but there’s a second Voltron from another universe that came to help us.” He explained.

“I… What?” Keith asked, feeling a little woozy.

Lance smiled. “Don’t worry bud, we can go over it more when you’re more lucid.” He said.

“Right.” Keith said, his knees feeling weak.

“You want to go get something to eat?” Lance asked.

Keith nodded and took a step closer to Lance and towards the door, almost falling before Lance caught him, their faces incredibly close together.

Keith was feeling very weak all of the sudden and so he let himself put all of his weight on Lance, even leaning in to rest his head on him. “Sorry…” He said. “Just give me a minute. I haven’t had to do the whole healing pod thing in years.”

“Yeah…” Lance said. “You were pretty banged up too so… Yeah…” He swallowed, unable to remember where his sentence was going. “Hey, Keith?” He asked.

“Hmm?” Keith asked.

“Do you think… Maybe…” Lance stopped, deciding now wasn’t the best time to confess his love to his friend. “Nevermind.” He said. “We can talk about it later.

“Whatever you say.” Keith said, pushing himself off of Lance but shifting to use him as a crutch as they headed to the kitchen.

When they got there, they found Terezi mopping up a puddle of thick blue liquid.

“What happened?” Lance asked.

“Vriska got sick.” Terezi said. “I told her to go slow but she was set on eating everything she could find.” She shook her head. “I made her go lay down.”

Lance nodded and Keith decided to try to walk on his own, heading for one of the refrigerators.

“Hey, I’ll get that, Keith.” Lance said. “Why don’t you go sit in the dining room and I’ll bring you something.”

“I’m okay.” Keith said, leaning on the refrigerator before opening it.

“You need to rest.” Lance said. “You’re gonna be weak for a little bit.”

“I know.” Keith said.

“Then show me you get it and go to the dining room.” Lance said, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Keith hesitated before he nodded and slowly left the room.

Lance watched to make sure he was okay to walk before he opened up a cabinet to get out ingredients to make him some soup.

Terezi was quiet until she finished mopping and started putting the cleaning supplies back into the closet cabinet. “How’s your matesprit doing?” She asked, genuinely caring.

“He’s okay.” Lance said as he put some ingredients into a pot. “What’s a matesprit?” He asked.

“You know,” Terezi said. “A flushed lover.”

Lance’s cheeks went red and he looked at Terezi. “He’s not… We’re not lovers.” He said.

“Oh…” Terezi said, shrugging. “I thought you were.”

“No…” Lance said.

“Moirails?” Terezi asked.

“I don’t know what that is either but if it’s romantic then it’s not what we are.” Lance said, not managing to mask the disappointment in his voice.

“Sounds like you wanna be romantic.” Terezi grinned, looking a little mischievous.

Lance looked back to the food he was making. “I guess.” He said. “He’s just really intense most of the time so it’s kind of hard to gauge when I should ask him out.” He admitted.

“Yeah…” Terezi said. “I know the feeling.”

“You do?” Lance asked.

Terezi shrugged. “Yeah. It’s not so much of an intensity thing with Vriska… Well I guess it sort of is? Just in a not serious intense way. She’s just intense in the way that she never stops… You know, being the way that she is.” She said. “I pretty much just wanna be pale with her but every time I think about asking her out it’s like, maybe not the best idea because she’s… The way that she is.” She paused. “I don’t know. I used to be able to sift through her bullshit and she’s pretty much my best friend but she is so irritating a lot of the time.”

“Sounds… Inconvenient.” Lance said.

“It is.” Terezi said. “But eventually I’ll figure out what to do about it.” She smiled. “Do you think you could make some extra soup for Vriska?” She asked. “I’m pretty sure she barfed up everything she ate.”

“Yeah I’ll make extra.” Lance said.

“Cool.” Terezi smiled before leaving the room.

* * *

Jade was laying in her bed. She hadn’t gotten up for breakfast or even to go to the bathroom all morning. She was hungry and she needed to pee but she didn’t feel like moving. As she flipped onto her back a knock came to the door.

“What?!” Jade half groaned, half yelled.

“Hey, it’s me.” John’s voice came through. “Can I come in?” He asked.

“Whatever…” Jade said.

John opened up the door and walked inside, closing it behind him and sitting down on Jade’s nightstand with a bowl in his hand. “Hey.” He said. “You want some oatmeal?” He asked.

“Whatever…” Jade sighed.

John frowned and handed her the bowl. “How you feeling?” He asked.

Jade shrugged, taking the bowl and setting it on her stomach. “I kinda wanna hit Dave in the head…” She said.

“Yeah, me too.” John said, smiling a little. “We could tag team and do that thing where one of us crouches behind him and the other one shoves him to make him fall over.” He suggested.

“No…” Jades said. “I don’t want him to get hurt… I just wanna hit him… While he’s wearing a helmet… So it doesn’t hurt him…”

John nodded. “We could tape a picture of him to a punching bag.” He said.

“That sounds better.” Jade said, taking the spoon out of the bowl and scooping up some oatmeal to drop in her mouth.

“You know, people say you shouldn’t eat when you’re laying down.” John said.

Jade sighed and sat up to eat. “Have you talked to him yet?” She asked.

“No.” John said. “I went to his room but he didn’t answer the door.”

“Rose said he cried last night…” Jade said. “Maybe he just slept in and didn’t hear you… I know that’s how it goes with me when I cry before bed…”

John nodded. “Yeah me too.” He said. “That’s why I waited until later to bring you food.” He added.

Jade just nodded and continued to eat.

“So are you mad at Dave for cheating on you or are you mad because he’s gay?” John asked.

Jade looked at him. “Because he cheated on me.” She said. “I don’t care that he’s gay. I mean, I’m upset over it because I thought me and him might be a couple some day and I kinda love him but I’m not mad he’s gay. I wouldn’t want to make him unhappy by making him be with me, but the thing is that he didn’t have to say yes to me but he did and until he ended the relationship he entered into, he shouldn’t have moved on to someone else.” She explained. “There was no reason for him to cheat on me. I’m his friend, I would have understood.”

John nodded. “Yeah.” He said. “Honestly though, I just can’t believe he cheated with Karkat.” He added. “Like, he’s only known him for a few days and I thought they hated each other.” He paused. “But I guess not… Or maybe it was a rebound thing since I turned him down…”

“He asked you out?” Jade asked.

“Sort of.” John said. “He kissed me and told me he loved me.”

“Wow!” Jade said.

“I know!” John said. “I didn’t see it coming and all the sudden his face was on my face!” He paused. “But I told him I wasn’t gay and he ran away which is, I guess when you asked him out which is why I was so like, I’m gonna tell her about it.”

Jade was silent for a moment. “Maybe he just likes Karkat because he doesn’t know any other gay people except the trolls and Karkat is the only one he’s spent time with.” She said.

“Yeah maybe.” John said. “I wonder if they’ll stay together.” He added. “Like, will they end up getting alien married and having little troll babies or something?” 

Jade laughed a little. “I don’t think they can have babies together but that would be sort of cute, really. Dave with a baby.” She said.

“Yeah, I guess.” John laughed. “I wonder if trolls are good parents.” He added.

“Well Aradia told me that trolls don’t have parents.” Jade said. “Apparently they have a thing called a lusus which is like an animal guardian that takes care of them but they never meet their real parents.”

“Oh…” John said. “That sounds sad.”

Jade shrugged. “They don’t know any different so I don’t think they would be sad about it.” She said.

“Yeah but I’m just thinking about my dad and how much it would suck to not know him.” John said.

Jade nodded and the two of them were quiet for a moment before John’s expression turned to one of mischief.

“Hey, I have an idea!” John grinned.

“What is it?” Jade asked.

“What if, instead of being mad at Dave, we encourage him, but like, way too much?” John asked.

“What do you mean?” Jade asked.

“Like, we can be like those annoying parents that take pictures of their kid with their first boyfriend and show them to everyone and talk about plans for their future wedding and tell them that we’ve named their children already and just be a nuisance for fun.” John explained. “Just try to be as embarrassing as possible.”

Jade smiled a little. “I guess we can try that.” She said. “But I do wanna yell at him a little first.” She added.

“Deal.” John said with a grin. “I bet Dave and Karkat have never experienced embarrassing parents! Karkat probably didn’t have a dad or a mom or anything and Dave’s bro is cool about everything so really we’re doing them a favor by exposing them to this sort of thing.” He laughed.

Jade laughed too. “It’s like revenge but fun!” She said.

“Hell yeah!” John exclaimed, high-fiving Jade.

* * *

Dave and Karkat spent most of their time in the laundry room completely silent, blushing whenever they made eye contact before quickly looking away from each other before their laundry was finally done and Karkat could change back into his regular clothing.

They returned Dave’s clothing to his room before they went to find Sollux, who was sitting in the pool room with Aradia.

“Hey, Sollux!” Karkat exclaimed. “Heads up!” He yelled as he launched Sollux’s underwear at him, hitting him in the face with it.

Sollux barely reacted. He simply removed the underwear and straightened up his glasses. “Very mature, Kk.” He said.

Karkat smiled a little before he and Dave left without saying a word to the other two. They held hands but said nothing and had no plans to go anywhere specific, though they only got a few hallways into their little walk before John and Jade walked around a corner, walking in their direction, and causing Dave to quickly pull his hand away from Karkat and look down in shame.

Jade came marching up to him and stopped him from continuing down the corridor.

Dave looked at her, preparing to be told they were no longer friends.

“Dave…” Jade said, face angry. “You were a serious jerk last night! I would have been okay with it if you told me you didn’t want to date me but you went and cheated on me and I’m so angry at you for that! You made me feel horrible and I hated you all night!” She paused, saddening a little. “But the truth is that I love you… You’re one of my best friends and you always will be…” She pulled him into an embrace. “What you did was bullshit! And I’m not going to get over it anytime soon. But I love you and I support you.” She said, pulling back from the embrace and softening, smiling at him a little.

Dave smiled, though his eyes were full of guilt. “I’m sorry I hurt you.” He said.

“I forgive you.” Jade said. “Just don’t cheat on anyone else.”

“I won’t.” Dave said before looking at John.

John shrugged, smiling at him. “Hey, if she forgives you, I forgive you.” He said.

Dave smiled. “I… I love you guys…” He said genuinely.

“We love you too, buddy.” John said before a pause. “Now on the topic of love,” He grinned. “DAVE AND KARKAT SITTING IN A TREE!” He began scream-singing.

“Oh my god!” Dave exclaimed, going red with embarrassment.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” John and Jade continued.

Karkat’s face turned red too.

“FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!” They continued, turning around, taking each other by the hand and running down the hallway, repeating their song.

“Guys! No!” Dave said, running after them. “Stop!” He exclaimed in embarrassment but the duo only ran faster and yelled louder until he gave up and Karkat slowly caught up to him.

“What the fuck is a marriage and a baby?” Karkat asked, causing Dave’s entire face to go a deep red color.

“Nothing!” Dave exclaimed. “It’s nothing!” He said, covering his face with his hand.

“Is it some embarrassing human thing?” Karkat asked.

Dave just nodded a little.

Karkat shrugged. “Well I don’t get it so you’re safe.” He said.

“Yeah from you…” Dave said. “Other people will get it…”

Karkat reached for his hand and squeezed it a little. “Maybe it’s time to just let yourself be embarrassed.” He said. “Just take off those cool guy shades and let people think what they want about you.”

Dave let his other hand drop away from his face and looked at Karkat. “I would but my eyes are super sensitive to light…” He said.

“Oh that’s why you wear those things?” Karkat asked. “I thought it was some dumb attempt to look cool like what Sollux is going for.”

“I mean, that's what I let people think but no.” Dave said. “I just have super light sensitive eyes. My bro has them too.”

“Hmm…” Karkat said. “Guess we’ll have to dim the lights in our respiteblocks when we hang out ‘cause I like seeing your dumb human eyeballs.” He grumbled, trying to come off as cranky.

Dave smiled. “Thanks…” He said quietly.

“Mm-hmm…” Karkat replied, face a little red.

* * *

Lance sat with Keith while he ate and filled him in on everything that had happened before suggesting that he should get some rest and walking him to his room.

Keith stopped in the door and turned to look at Lance. “Thanks for taking care of me, buddy.” He smiled.

Lance smiled back, staring the love of his life in the eyes. “That’s what friends are for right?” He replied.

Keith hesitated but nodded. “Yeah…” He said. “That’s what friends are for…” He smiled but didn’t move to go into his room, he just stared at Lance with affection in his eyes.

Lance stared back, realizing for the first time that Keith was looking at him with the same love that he had in his own eyes. Suddenly he couldn’t take it anymore. “Keith…” He said quietly, cheeks red.

“Yeah?” Keith asked.

“I…” Lance hesitated. “I love you.” He said, hoping he hadn’t just ruined everything.

Keith’s smile only got wider. “I can’t believe it took you two-thousand years to say that.” He said, almost laughing. “I love you too.” He added.

Lance smiled wide. “You do?” He asked.

“Yeah, man.” Keith said. “I’ve loved you since we first met. I was just too young and dumb to figure it out until a couple years in and then it felt like it was too late.” He paused. “I was just sort of waiting for you.”

Lance beamed and pulled Keith into an embrace and Keith returned it. “I honestly can’t believe you let me put it off this long!” He exclaimed.

Keith laughed. “Yeah I sort of thought you wouldn’t wait two-thousand years.” He said. “If I would have known, I might have said something when we were in our twenties.”

Lance squeezed him a little tighter. “I love you so much.” He said.

“I love you too.” Keith replied.

The two of them stood, embracing for over a minute before both of their coms went off.

“Hey, Voltron two is back.” Rolo said through the speaker. “Cosmo just brought them into the hangers.” He added.

The boys pulled away from each other and Lance replied. “I thought they wouldn’t be back for days?” He asked.

“Apparently their ship’s navigator was damaged. The balmera was a lot closer than they thought it was.” Rolo said. “They’re unloading the new crystal if you wanna help them with installing it. I let Equius and Rose know you might need them too.”

“Okay. Awesome. Thanks.” Lance said. “We’ll head down now.”

“We?” Rolo asked.

“Oh yeah, Keith is awake.” Lance said.

“Hey.” Keith said.

“Oh,” Rolo said. “Good to have you back.”

“Alright, we’ll be down to help in a minute.” Lance said.

“Okay. See you there.” Rolo replied before cutting coms.

Lance looked at Keith. “Let’s go fix our castle.” He smiled.

Keith smiled back and the two of them headed down to help install the new crystal.

* * *

By the time the two of them got down to the engine room, Dirk, Equius, Rose, and Rolo were halfway through installing the new crystal.

“Looks like you don’t even need our help.” Lance said as they walked over and stood next to the group of trolls and humans from the second Voltron.

“Yeah I didn’t realize Dirk was an expert with altean technology.” Rolo said.

“There was an altean girl in our universe that taught him everything about crystals and such!” Jake smiled. “She was a sweet girl!”

Lance looked at him. “What was her name?” He asked.

“Allura.” Jake said. “She helped us find our wolves and taught us to fly them.”

Lance stared at him for a moment. “What happened to her?” He asked.

“Well I really don’t know.” Jake said. “She was helping us with the resistance and then she vanished.” He paused. “Dirk thinks the Condesce got to her. After she disappeared is when things really took a turn for the worse and… Well, we lost almost everyone. Earth was destroyed and the rebellion was crushed before we ended up here.”

“We don’t need to talk about this right now!” Kankri snapped at Jake, not wanting to think about everyone they lost. “If you need to talk about it, go somewhere else so you don’t trigger anyone who was traumatized by it.”

“Sorry, Kankri.” Jake said. “I didn’t mean to-”

Kankri put up a hand to silence him. “Just go somewhere else.” He said.

Jake frowned. “Sorry…” He said quietly before walking over to the edge of the room and sitting down on the floor.

Lance and Keith looked at each other before they both walked over to join Jake.

“You alright?” Lance asked.

Jake nodded. “Kankri is just… Well, like he said, he’s traumatized.” He said. “He was the only one who actually saw all of our friends die and a couple of them were people he was really close with. Losing Porrim and Latula, even Meulin. It really hurt him. And the empress made him watch as a punishment for everything he did to rise up against her. We lost six of our closest friends and he was forced to watch.” He paused. “I understand why he gets upset when it’s brought up… I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Sounds like you guys have been through a lot.” Lance said.

Jake nodded. “Yes indeed, we have.” He said. “We’ve been fighting for over a year now. I think we’re all getting very tired.”

Lance nodded. “Well you should get some rest while we’re parked.” He said. “Me and Rolo marked out some rooms for you guys while you were gone. I can show you to them.”

Jake smiled politely. “Thank you.” He said. “What was your name again?” He asked.

“Lance.” Lance said. “And this is Keith. Rolo is the purple-blue guy, then there’s the other humans. The blondes are Rose and Dave, the other two are Jade and John. The trolls are Equius, Nepeta, Terezi, Vriska, Karkat, Kanaya, Tavros, Aradia, Sollux, Feferi, Eridan, and Gamzee.”

Jake nodded with a smile. “I’m Jake. The spunky brunette is Jane, then there’s Dirk and Roxy, and I know Roxy sounds like a girl’s name but he’s explained to me that he is for sure a boy now.” He said with a respectful tone. “Then there’s Kankri, Mituna and Rufioh, Aranea, Cronus, and Meenah.”

Lance extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.” He said.

Jake shook his hand. “And you as well!” He said before shaking Keith’s hand.

“Glad to have another hand in the resistance.” Keith said.

* * *

Keith sent out a PSA over the coms to let everyone know that the others were back and they had just finished installing the new crystal. He explained that they would be waiting for twenty-four hours before leaving the planet in order to let the castle recharge it’s main systems and told everyone to get as much rest as they could before they would rejoin the battle against the Condesce.

“Do you wanna go talk to the new guy who looks like you?” Karkat asked Dave as they sat together, alone in the observatory once the PSA was over.

“Hell no.” Dave said, looking out at the stars.

Karkat stared at him for a moment before laying back on the floor to look up with him. “Okay.” He said simply.

“Do you wanna go hang out with alt you?” Dave asked.

“No.” Karkat said. “Although I don’t think he’s an alternate version of me… Maybe my ancestor if ancestors exist. But not me.”

“Why wouldn’t ancestors exist?” Dave asked, thinking about them in a human light.

Karkat just shrugged. “Just think it’s a stupid concept.” He said.

“I think ancestor might mean something different on your planet.” Dave said.

“What does it mean on your planet?” Karkat asked.

“Just like, someone who is related to us but I guess… Further back in the genetic chain.” Dave said.

“That’s what it means for us too but I think it might be more specific.” Karkat said. “Our ancestor is someone who is from the past but is the closest thing we have to a genetic connection.” He explained.

Dave was quiet for a moment before he sat up, crossed his legs, and spun to the side to look at Karkat. “Okay, this is gonna be weird but I gotta ask…” He said, causing Karkat to look at him, confused, as he sat up to look at him better. “Where do… How are you guys born?” He asked. “Like, if you don’t have parents?”

Karkat’s face went a little red. “Um… So…” He started before pausing. “You first…” He said.

Dave sat in silence for a moment. “Uh… Well you remember when John and Jade said the word ‘baby?’” He asked.

“Yeah.” Karkat said.

“Okay so, humans, we fuck and that’s how we make babies and babies are like, the tiny humans who are born.” Dave said. “I hope fuck means the same thing to you as it does to us though or this conversation is gonna get more confusing.” He added. “But yeah, so generally, because we have different body parts based on gender, a guy and a girl do the do and then the chick gets pregnant and then nine months later she has a baby and then the two people who made the baby raise it together.” He explained.

“Fuck means to exchange genetic material for you, right?” Karkat asked.

“Uh… I mean yeah, I suppose so.” Dave said. “I mean humans do it for that but they also do it just ‘cause it feels good and because, well, I don’t know… That’s just what you do in a relationship, I guess… I’ve never done it but I hear it’s fantastic.”

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Normally we just do it to exchange genetic material…” He said.

“So do you make babies in the same way or?” Dave asked.

“Not really…” Karkat said. “I’ve heard that we used to but evolved out of it because the horns would rip their birthers apart during the birthing but I don’t know if that’s true.” He began. “But no. We have this thing called a mother grub and we pick partners to share our genetic materials with. We do that and then we put it into a bucket when it’s mixed and then we add it to a slurry of other genetic materials and the stronger your bond is with your partner, the stronger and more prominent your genetic material will be in the slurry.” He explained. “So after the slurry is mixed up we take it to the mother grub and the mother grub uses it to hatch a brood of trolls that are put through some trials to see if they are strong enough to live but also the ones like me are normally culled. I just got lucky.”

“Okay that’s a lot to process…” Dave said. “But what do you mean the ones like you?” He asked.

“I’m a mutant.” Karkat said. “I used to be really kind of ashamed of it but it’s whatever now, I guess. All of us have different blood colors but mine isn’t supposed to exist.”

“That’s… Stupid.” Dave said. “Why separate you from the others like that?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged. “It’s just the way it is.” He said.

Dave was silent for a moment. “Okay so, putting that aside, how do you guys go from blood trials or whatever to being raised by a whatever it was you said raised you?” He asked.

“A lusus.” Karkat said. “They’re like animals. They pick you up after the trials and take you in with the sole purpose of protecting you. My lusus was great. Of course the Condesce had almost all of them killed including mine because of us acting out but he was cool. He took care of me since I was just a wriggler.”

“A wriggler?” Dave asked.

“Like your human baby.” Karkat said. “We start out as wrigglers and then we molt into different stages of life.”

“You molt?” Dave asked.

“Yeah. You don’t?” Karkat asked.

“No. We just grow.” Dave said.

“Oh.” Karkat said. “We molt and then when the molt is over we tend to be taller, have darker skin, and our eye pigment fills in with our blood color.” He explained.

Dave looked closely at his eyes, they had speckles of red in them but were mostly grey. “Hey, you’re an adult, right?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Karkat said. “You are too, right?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Dave said.

“Okay, good.” Karkat said.

“So when do you get your next molt?” Dave asked.

Karkat shrugged. “I should have molted already!” He said, sounding a little frustrated. “Me and Nepeta are the only ones who haven’t molted into our eye color yet. That’s why we’re so short.”

“Oh so you’re a late bloomer, huh?” Dave said, smiling a little.

“I guess.” Karkat said.

Dave nodded. “How tall will you get?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged. “Depends on the troll.” He said. “We can get pretty tall though… I better get tall…” He added.

Dave smiled. “I don’t know. You’re pretty cute when you’re short.” He said, laying back down to look up at the stars.

Karkat sat for a moment before laying back down next to him and taking his hand in his.


	11. Chapter 11

Rose and Kanaya were sitting together in a room that Lance had called the library during the earlier tour. It had some traditional books but it was mostly a digital database.

Kanaya had been teaching Rose all about trolls while Rose taught her all about humans.

They had only been at it for about an hour when Dirk walked in with Jake.

Jake was pleasantly humming and holding Dirk’s hand, swinging it lightly while Dirk looked completely stoic, but also a little bored.

Dirk let out a breath and let Jake pull him over to a console where he started pressing buttons.

“Jake…” Dirk said, sounding only slightly irritated. “Maybe you shouldn’t be pressing random buttons on a ship that doesn’t belong to you.”

Jake smiled and stopped humming. “It’s not like I’m going to do anything bad.” He said. “The ship is nearly the same as our old castle.” He said.

“This room wasn’t a part of our old castle…” Dirk said.

“Which is exactly why I want to see what it’s all about.” Jake smiled, pressing more buttons.

“It’s a library.” Rose said, not looking up from the book she was holding.

Dirk and Jake looked over at her and Kanaya and Jake smiled at them.

“I didn’t even see you two!” Jake said.

“They’ve been sitting there the entire time…” Dirk grumped.

“Well I didn’t notice!” Jake smiled and walked over, extending his hand to Kanaya. “I don’t believe we’ve met! I’m Jake English.”

“Kanaya Maryam.” Kanaya said, excepting the handshake.

“Oh we had a Maryam in our little group!” Jake smiled. “She looked a lot like you. She’s unfortunately gone now but she was a wonderful lady.”

Kanaya nodded. “I’m sure she was.” She said, a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to meet the alternate universe version of her ancestor.

“Oh! This is Dirk!” Jake smiled, pulling Dirk closer to them. “He looks mean but he’s not.” He said.

“Nice to meet you.” Kanaya smiled politely and shook his hand.

“Have you had a chance to meet Dave and Jade yet?” Rose asked, knowing that they were the alternates of their guardians.

“Not quite yet!” Jake smiled. “I wanted to explore a little first but I can’t wait to meet Jade! I had a grandmother who looked just like her! I wonder if they’re much alike.” He said.

“Well she’s a very kind hearted person.” Rose smiled before looking at Dirk. “So was Dave your father in your world?” She asked.

Dirk just shrugged.

“Indeed, he was.” Jake smiled. “I know he’s acting like he doesn’t want to see him again but I also know he can’t wait to see him!” He added and Dirk let out an annoyed breath.

Dirk let go of Jake’s hand and walked out of the room. Jake frowned.

“Oh I suppose I’ve gotten on his nerves again.” He said.

“Are you two… An item?” Rose asked.

“Yes.” Jake smiled a little. “We’ve been together for nearly a year. Sometimes I get the feeling he wants to break it off though…” He frowned but paused a moment before smiling again. “Anyway!” He said. “I won’t burden you with it!” He smiled and turned to leave. “It was great meeting you.”

“It was nice to meet you too.” Rose said before he walked out of the door. She stared at the door for a moment before looking back to Kanaya who was sitting next to her. “He seems nice.” She said.

“Slightly clueless but yes, also nice.” Kanaya said.

Rose smiled a little.

* * *

Kankri was walking down the hall of the ship alone. He was trying to get used to being on a large ship again instead of a smaller, more crowded one, and he thought that taking a long walk around the castle would help him with that.

After a long time of wondering, he turned the corner to see Eridan, whose face immediately put him in a bad mood.

Eridan smiled at him and stopped near him.

“Hey.” Eridan smiled. “You’re Kankri right?” He asked.

“Yes…” Kankri said, only stopping because Eridan was in his way.

Eridan leaned against the wall, trying to look appealing. “What are you up to?” He asked.

“Walking…” Kankri said.

“Want someone to walk with?” Eridan asked. “I could show you around.” He said, smiling flirtatiously. “I could show you a lot of things.” He added

Kankri stared at him for a moment before he punched him in the nose and shoved him out of his way.

Eridan let out a yelp of pain as the cracking sound of his nose echoed through the hallway. “WHAT THE FUCK?!” He exclaimed, kneeling on the floor as Kankri continued walking down the corridor.

Eridan cried out of pain for a few minutes before standing up and heading for the medical room, where Sollux was digging through some drawers.

Eridan didn’t say a word to Sollux, he simply walked over to a mirror and looked at his nose, it was certainly broken and he had violet tears streaming down his cheeks.

Sollux glanced over to him as he pulled out a box of bandages. “What the fuck happened to you?” He asked.

“Karkat’s ancestor hit me in the face…” Eridan said, trying not to cry.

“Well what did you do?” Sollux asked. “I mean, I’m sure he hit you for a reason.”

“I didn’t do anything…” Eridan said. “I asked him if he wanted me to show him around and he punched me.”

Sollux rolled his eyes. “You were hitting on him weren’t you?” He asked, walking over and turning him to look at his nose.

“Barely.” Eridan said.

“Yeah well, you keep harassing everyone, eventually someone is gonna hit you in the fucking face.” Sollux said, reaching up to feel his nose and determine how bad the break was.

“I wasn’t harassing anybody!” Eridan exclaimed.

“Sure you weren’t…” Sollux said, quickly grabbing his nose and yanking it over to set it.

Eridan let out a scream in pain and pulled away from Sollux. “WHAT THE FUCK?!” He yelled.

“I set it so it doesn’t heal sideways.” Sollux said. “You’ll be fine.” He added.

Eridan let another tear slip out of his eye. “Thanks…” He said.

“Yeah, whatever.” Sollux said, turning to leave.

“Sollux…” Eridan started, causing Sollux to turn and look at him. “You wouldn’t happen to want to hang out with me, would you?” He asked.

“Oh my holy shit, are you kidding me?” Sollux asked. “We don’t like each other!” He reminded him. “Just because I set your fucking nose doesn’t change the fact you hate me and I hate you. Platonically!”

“It doesn’t have to be platonic…” Eridan said.

Sollux put his hand on his head. “You are really fucking desperate aren’t you?” He asked.

Eridan’s lip quivered a little. “I’m very lonely…” He admitted.

“I know you’re lonely.” Sollux said. “You’re also a fucking doucebag and I don’t have any romantic feelings for you. I’m pretty sure no one does.”

Eridan started crying more.

“Are you fucking serious?” Sollux asked. “See, you couldn’t even handle being pitch with anyone! I said one true but mean thing to you to test the fucking waters and you crumbled like a wriggler!” He exclaimed. “You’re so desperate to be in a relationship but you won’t take criticism from your pitch partners, you won’t take criticism from your pale partners, and you refuse to see when a pale partner doesn’t feel flush for you! I don’t like you! Fef doesn’t like you! Hell! I don’t even think Karkat likes you! No one fucking likes you and you’re the reason for it!”

Eridan sniffled and nodded. “I know…” He said. “I’m pathetic… I know Fef doesn’t even like me anymore and I doubt she ever will… I’m just so lonely and I always thought it would be her… I always thought she would be my matesprit and Vriska would be my kismesis but neither of them care at all…” He cried. “I just want someone to care…”

Sollux let out an irritated breath. “You know what you could fucking do to get people to start liking you?” He asked. “Stop being a fucking prick. Break up with Fef and don’t guilt her into being moirails with you again later, stop hitting on everyone and start treating people like real people with real feelings instead of just people you could be fucking, and maybe learn a little self fucking love because if you hate yourself so much you’re never going to figure out how to have a real conversation that isn’t about hating yourself and being fucking lonely. Just stop being a pathetic waste of space, you stupid piece of shit.”

Eridan’s lip quivered again and his eyes filled with tears and he started sobbing.

“Oh for the love of shit…” Sollux said. “Hold on…” He added, walking over to the communication panel near the door and pressing a button. “Locate Karkat.” He said.

The computer made a clicking noise before it spoke. “Karkat is located in the observatory.” It said.

Sollux nodded and let out a sigh before walking over and taking Eridan by the shoulders, leading him to the observatory and walking in without knocking to see Karkat and Dave kissing on the floor.

“KK.” Sollux said, causing the both to jump again. “Can you fucking handle this?” He asked as Eridan tried to still his tears.

“What the fuck happened?” Karkat asked, noticing the giant bruise that was taking over the main portion of Eridan’s face.

“Your ancestor punched him for hitting on him and then I set it and I yelled at him for hitting on me and now he won’t stop crying and I don’t have the fucking energy to deal with this.” Sollux said.

Karkat got up and walked over to them and Eridan hugged him.

“Dude…” Karkat said, annoyed, but not pulling away from him. “Really?” He asked, not liking to show affection in front of other people.

Eridan cried some more and Sollux walked out of the room.

“I’ll… Give you two some privacy…” Dave said, getting up and leaving.

Dave caught up with Sollux and Sollux groaned before he could even speak to him.

“Hey…” Dave said.

Sollux just nodded a little as a reply.

“So… You’re like, Karkat’s best friend right?” Dave asked.

“Yeah…” Sollux said.

Dave nodded. “So… Hypothetically… If I wanted to do something really nice for him… You know… To show him I care… What would he like?” He asked.

Sollux stopped walking and stared at him. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He asked. “You two have been together for what? A day?” He asked.

Dave stared at him, his cheeks a little red from embarrassment. “Uh… Yeah…” He said.

“You don’t need to be showing him how much you care yet, you insufferable prick!” Sollux snapped at him. “He probably barely even likes you! He’s probably only with you because he thinks a quadromantic or quadsexual relationship wouldn’t make him happy! Do humans always fall for people this fast or are you just an idiot?” He asked.

“Jesus, dude… It’s no wonder you made the purple guy cry…” Dave said. “Also how do you know he doesn’t want to be in a quadrant?” He asked.

“You’re so fucking dumb. I’ve been his best friend for sweeps! I know he’s not into the whole quadrant thing!” Sollux said, sounding bitter. “I’ve known for sweeps! He’s just too stupid to understand that he doesn’t have to be into it to be happy with someone who cares about him!”

“Okay… Now you just sound jealous…” Dave said.

“What?” Sollux asked. “I’m not jealous, you stupid bitch!” He snapped. “I just know he’s never gonna be happy with a stupid, insufferable, jerk-off like you!” He exclaimed before storming down the hall.

Dave watched him leave, knowing that he was certainly jealous.

As Sollux was leaving, Roxy came around the corner and Sollux hit his shoulder against him, pushing him a little to get him out of his way, as they were in some of the smaller corridors of the castle.

Roxy stared at him for a moment before he continued down the hall and smiled at Dave.

“Heeyyy!” He exclaimed. “Dave! How are you?” He asked.

“Uh… I’m good…” Dave said. “How are you?” He asked.

“I’m awesome!” Roxy smiled. “I’m looking for Rose. I  **so** wanna talk to her!”

“Oh…” Dave said. “I actually haven’t seen her all day…”

“Aww…” Roxy said. “Wanna help me find her?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah…” Dave said. “Sure.”

“Awesome!” Roxy smiled and the two of them started walking together. “So!” He exclaimed. “Tell me all about yourself!”

“Uh…” Dave started. “I don’t… I don’t really do that…” He said.

“What? Talk about yourself?” Roxy asked.

“Yeah… That’s not really my thing.” Dave said.

“Come on!” Roxy smiled. “I’ll tell you about me!”

“Ehh…” Dave said.

Roxy sighed. “Alright…” He said. “Suit yourself.”

Dave just nodded. “So like, I don’t mean to be rude but, I don’t remember your name.” He said.

“Roxy!” Roxy smiled. “My name is Roxy!”

“Oh cool.” Dave said. “Are you’re like, Rose’s mom?” He asked.

“Sort of.” Roxy said. “In my world, Rose is my mom. I guess in this place I’m her mom. But really, I prefer to be referred to as a dad, not a mom.”

Dave looked at him. “Oh… I thought you were a girl…” He said.

“Nope! I’m a trans boy!” Roxy smiled. “But I understand why you might be confused about that.”

“Oh… I don’t think I've met anyone like that before…” Dave said.

Roxy shrugged. “There’s a first time for everything!” He smiled.

Dave smiled a little. “So what’s up with the name then?” He asked. “Roxy is a pretty girly name.”

“Meh.” Roxy said. “Names don’t really have a gender and I love my name so I don’t think I want to change it.”

“Makes sense.” Dave said.

“Yup!” Roxy smiled.

Dave hesitated. “So… Is Dirk okay with that?” He asked, wanting to figure out what types of things Dirk would be alright with.

“Yeah he’s cool with it.” Roxy said. “He forgets sometimes but he’s cool with it. Took him a while though. We grew up together and he was pretty used to the whole me being a girl thing but eventually he came around.” He smiled.

Dave nodded and Roxy looked at him.

“So why’d you wanna know if Dirk was okay with it?” He asked.

Dave hesitated before he shrugged. “No reason.” He said.

“Hmmmmmmm…” Roxy said, smiling. “I think there’s a reason but okay.” He lightly bumped Dave with his shoulder.

Dave shrugged again. “Maybe.” He said.

Roxy bumped him again. “Yeeaaahhhh?????” He asked, a smile on his face.

Dave glanced at him before looking down at the ground as he walked. “I don’t know.” He said. “It’s just that… You know… My… My dad… My version of Dirk he’s… He’s not a really good dude…” He paused. “I don’t know if he would be okay with anything like that… I don’t even know he would be okay with me now…”

“Why is that?” Roxy asked.

Dave hesitated but looked at Roxy. He felt slightly more comfortable with Roxy, knowing that he was more than likely going to be okay with him liking boys. “It’s just that… I like… I like boys…” He looked down, almost looking ashamed. “I think my bro… My dad… I think he would probably beat the shit out of me if he knew…”

Roxy frowned but gently laid a hand on Dave’s arm. “Hey… Dirk isn’t like that. Okay?” He said. “He’s actually gay.”

Dave lowered his eyebrows and looked over to Roxy. “What?” He asked.

“Dirk is gay.” Roxy said. “He’s dating Jake. They’ve been together for pretty much a year now.” He smiled a little. “He’s totally okay with that stuff. You don’t have to worry.”

Dave stared at him for a moment before he nodded. “Is he like… An asshole or anything though?” He asked.

Roxy shrugged a little. “I mean, he’s kind of rude but he’s not a super asshole or anything.” He said.

Dave nodded a little and looked back to the ground as they walked.

“Hey, man.” Roxy smiled and nudged him again. “Maybe you should go talk to him. He’s not as bad as he looks.” He said.

Dave nodded again but didn’t say anything.

* * *

Karkat finally got Eridan to calm down and as they were walking out of the observatory, Kankri was walking past the door. Kankri looked at them and gave Eridan a dirty look, Eridan took a step back, trying to avoid another punch and Kankri stared at him the whole time he was passing before he went back to looking ahead.

Karkat looked at his ancestor for a moment before he patted Eridan on the back. “Go get some rest, man.” He said. “I’m gonna go talk to that guy. Maybe I can find out why he hit you.”

Eridan nodded. “Thanks Kar.” He said before walking off in the other direction.

Karkat walked at a slightly faster pace in order to catch up to Kankri before he slowed down to walk next to him.

“What?” Kankri asked, sounding mad but keeping an almost monotone voice.

“Why did you hit Eridan?” Karkat asked.

“His advances on me were unwanted.” Kankri said.

“Yeah…” Karkat said. “He kind of hits on everyone… No one’s ever punched him for it before. Even Sollux has never hit the guy and he hates him… Platonically.”

Kankri just let out a breath and kept walking.

“So yeah, no one really likes him but I don’t think he should get punched as long as he doesn’t hurt anyone…” Karkat said. “He normally just backs off if you tell him no. He really doesn’t do much to get hit…”

Kankri stopped and looked at Karkat, a fire burning silently behind his eyes. “If his counterpart is anything like him, I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before someone gets hurt.” He said.

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “You mean your violet blooded guy?” He asked. “What did he do?”

“I suppose, according to everyone else, he did nothing.” Kankri said. “He did nothing wrong and I’m the one who is overreacting. He is completely innocent. It was my fault for falling for it.” He ranted. “But I suppose they don’t see the emotional damage when they aren’t the ones involved in the ordeal.”

Karkat sighed. “Okay, for one, do you maybe wanna just tell me or do you just wanna be cryptic?” He asked. “And two, whatever he did, probably doesn’t justify a hatred of his descendant…”

Kankri let out a breath. “Fine.” He said. “I’ll tell you what happened. I suppose everyone else already knows. Why not tell one more person.” He paused. “Cronus and I used to be friends in a way but he insisted there was more to it. He got me feeling bad for him. He manipulated me into a relationship and when I finally fell for him, he manipulated me into breaking my promise of celibacy. Which I wouldn’t have minded if not for the fact that once he got what he wanted, he left. I wasn’t worth his time anymore. I broke my promise for him and I thought we would be together for the rest of our lives. Instead, he left as soon as we had finished. I was nothing to him and the time I wasted on him, I will never get back.” He paused again. “Whether or not a person like that causes physical pain on their partners, they still cause emotional pain and can cause serious trauma to those that they had hurt.”

Karkat put a hand up, stopping him from continuing. “Okay. I get that. You’re totally right to be pissed at that guy.” He said. “But that’s not Eridan. Eridan isn’t a manipulator. He’s a lonely idiot who guilt trips people sometimes but he wouldn’t do that shit to anyone. If anything, he’s super clingy. He’ll cling to a dead relationship for sweeps. If someone cares about him for five seconds he’s gonna wanna be with them forever. He wouldn’t fuck someone over like that.” He paused. “So maybe you shouldn’t punch him next time you see him…” He said.

Kankri stared at him for a moment. “Perhaps I was a little hasty on my decision to break his face.” He said. “He just looks like Cronus and I didn’t want to have some sort of rebound that wound hurt even more than what has already happened. I decided hitting him and leaving would be easier.”

“Okay.” Karkat said. “But next time, maybe give him a chance. Not romantically or anything. You don’t owe him or anyone else shit in that department, but just maybe don’t hit him five seconds into the conversation. Give him a chance to be a normal, considerate person.”

Kankri nodded. “Alright.” He said. “I apologize if I caused any inconvenience on you or your friends.” He added.

“It’s cool. It was just Eridan.” Karkat said. “I mean, I’m sure Sollux isn’t happy that he had to listen to him bitch for five minutes or whatever but he’ll get over it.”

Kankri nodded.

“So anyway…” Karkat said. “I guess you’re my ancestor?” He asked.

Kankri thought for a moment. “In a way.” He said. “In this universe, I was your ancestor, but in mine, you were my ancestor.”

“Really?” Karkat asked. “What was I like?”

“Boring, and frankly, a disgrace to other mutants.” Kankri said and Karkat frowned. “You never amounted to much in all honesty. You owned the largest bookstore on the planet.” He paused. “You had a reputation though. Not a good reputation, mind you, but you did have a reputation.”

“Why did I have a bad reputation?” Karkat asked. “Also owning my own bookstore sounds fucking awesome, honestly.”

Kankri stared at him for a moment, looking unamused. “You were a pushover.” He said. “You were practically a pet for the high bloods. Your reputation as a mutant was one of accepting one’s place in the world. They gave you a dingy little bookstore to run and you let the empress use you as a puppet to encourage other mutants to be culled. You were pathetic and I never liked you. You made it hard for people like me to fight for freedom. No one would listen to us about the cullings when you made it so easy for them.”

“Wait, what?” Karkat asked. “I would never do that! I would never let anyone get culled! Especially not mutants! What are you talking about?!”

Kankri narrowed his eyes. “What does culling mean to you?” He asked.

“To get killed!” Karkat exclaimed. “I would never encourage the culling of any mutant troll!”

Kankri put his hand up and shook his head. “To be culled doesn’t mean to be killed in our society, Karkat.” He said. “It means to be handled, or cared for, but not in a way that is good. We’re grouped with another troll and they take care of us. They’re our handler. If we are disabled in any way, including mutants of any kind under the umbrella of disability, we are seen as unfit to take care of ourselves. We’re treated like wrigglers for the rest of our lives, like we’re a burden on everyone else.” He paused. “You allowed it and encouraged it in exchange for your own freedom. It was despicable really.” He said. “Generations before I was even hatched, you managed to ruin my life...”

Karkat was silent for a moment. “No. There had to be more to it than that. That’s not me.” He said.

Kankri stared at him for a moment. “Perhaps.” He said. “But the high bloods certainly make sure everyone knows that you let our world become what it was through being the spokesman for the empress and her people.” He paused. “In all truthfulness, I’ve always despised you for that. I always assumed that I would one day become just like you, although that was actually what encouraged me to stand up and fight for myself, so I suppose I should thank you for that.”

Karkat let out a breath and looked down but didn’t say anything.

“I apologize if I caused you any unpleasant emotions just now, but it was you who asked.” Kankri said.

Karkat looked up at Kankri. “Well… No offense but I think you’re wrong about me. Whatever I did in your universe, I probably did it for a reason and I doubt it was as selfish as the empress made it out to be.” He said. “I’m not like that.”

Kankri shrugged a little. “I never said you were.” He said. “Just that the alternate version of you was. Our alternate versions are not exactly the same as we are. Your version of me was quite different in comparison to myself. He was a leader and a visionary, a revolutionary really. He led others into battle and fought valiantly against the oppression of his people. I fought for myself first and foremost. Other people were an afterthought, and I am in no way a leader of any kind, nor do I wish to be.” He explained. “I assume you are more like the alternate version of myself than you are like the alternate version of yourself.”

“How do you know anything about my ancestor?” Karkat asked.

“I was given a gift by a woman claiming to be a deity from your version of Earth.” Kankri said. “I can see into the life of your ancestor and I am linked to him. Any memories and any emotions he ever had, I can share with him at any time. I understand him more than anyone could ever know, which means that I understand you as well. At least to a certain degree.”

Karkat lowered his eyebrow. “What deity?” He asked.

“She didn’t give me a name and I couldn’t see her face, but she told me she was giving me the abilities of a seer of blood. I never found out what that meant exactly, or why I needed it, but she said it was important.” Kankri explained. “Perhaps you should ask your human friends about any deities they might have, specifically, a female deity with animal ears and a tail.”

“Okay…” Karkat said, taking that in.

Kankri stared at him for a moment before speaking again. “I do want to be clear about this though, I don’t hate you.” He said. “I know by the way I talk about my ancestor, it probably feels like I hate you the way I hated him, but I don’t. I am aware that you are not him, and I understand you well, based on the experiences I’ve shared with your ancestor, so I want you to know that I don’t hold the same contempt in my heart for you.”

Karkat nodded. “Thanks, I guess…” He said.

“You’re welcome.” Kankri said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to finish my walk and retire to my respiteblock.”

Karkat just nodded and watched Kankri walk away, still processing everything he had said to him.

* * *

Dave and Roxy walked around for a while but were unable to find Rose, and so Roxy broke off to head to the kitchen while Dave went to look for Karkat.

Roxy walked into the kitchen where John was eating out of a tub of ice cream with Jade and Nepeta. They all smiled at Roxy and he smiled back.

“What’s up?” Roxy asked.

“Hi, Roxy!” Jade smiled and John blushed a little, thinking Roxy was pretty. “We’re eating ice cream out of the tub! You want some?”

“Hell yeah!” Roxy smiled and grabbed a spoon before walking over and getting a mouthful. “Why are we eating it out of the tub?” He asked.

“Jade just went through a breakup, and John said that it’s customary on Earth to eat the ice cream right out of the tub when someone is sad.” Nepeta explained.

“Aww!” Roxy said. “I’m sorry, Jade! Who broke your heart? I’ll throw hands with them!” He offered.

Jade smiled. “It’s okay.” She said. “It was Dave. He didn’t mean to hurt me though. He’s just stupid.” She laughed a little.

“Aww, I just talked to him.” Roxy said. “He’s really nervous about meeting Dirk.”

John shrugged. “I don’t see why.” He said. “His bro is totally awesome and chill. I’m sure the alternate version of him is even cooler.”

Roxy tilted his head a little. “I didn’t get the impression from him that his dad was a really nice guy.” He said. “In fact, kind of the opposite.”

“No his dad is great!” John said. “He’s so cool! Dave loves that guy!”

Roxy raised an eyebrow but shrugged. “If you say so…” He said, not feeling like it was his place to correct him when he didn’t really know them all that well.

John smiled at him. “So you’re Roxy’s mom, huh?” He asked.

Roxy laughed a little. “Sort of.” He said. “I prefer the term dad over mom though.” He corrected. “I’m trans.”

John’s face went beet red. “Oh!” He said, feeling embarrassed that he had felt attraction to a boy. “Sorry!”

“It’s cool!” Roxy smiled. “Lots of people make that mistake.” He said.

John laughed nervously as he realized that Roxy looked a lot like Dave. “Hey are you and Dave related somehow?” He asked. “You kinda look like him.”

Roxy shrugged a little. “Doubtful.” He said. “Unless the alt version of me got with the alt version of his dad at some point.” He laughed.

Jade shrugged. “Maybe.” She said, smiling. “Dave and Rose look really alike and they have the same birthday. Sometimes we joke about them being twins.”

Roxy shrugged. “I guess it’s possible.” He smiled. “But we might never know.”

Jade and John just smiled and Nepeta took a huge spoon of ice cream into her mouth.

* * *

Dave walked around for a while looking for Karkat but instead found Terezi and one of the carapacians who were sitting in a nearly empty room save for about fifty cans and a couple packs of chalk.

“Hey, you two seen Karkat anywhere?” He asked.

They looked at him and the carapacian shook his head.

“Do I look like I can see Karkat?” Terezi asked.

Dave stared at her for a moment. “Wait are you blind?” He asked.

“Duh!” Terezi said.

“Oh. I didn’t notice.” Dave said. “Have you heard him?” He asked.

“No.” Terezi said. “I haven’t smelled him either.” She said, standing up and walking over to Dave, taking in a big breath through her nose and smiling mischievously. “You smell  **amazing** though!” She grinned.

“Uh, thanks?” Dave said. “I uh… I put on deodorant.”

Terezi laughed. “I was talking about your blood!” She said getting closer to him. “Your blood smells amazing! Candy red, just like Karkat’s!”

Dave backed up. “Uh!” He said. “That’s creepy…”

“What’s the matter, cool kid?” Terezi asked. “Are you scared of a girl?”

“Wait, you’re a girl?” Dave asked, backing into the wall as Terezi walked closer to him.

“Yes!” Terezi said. “Duh!”

“Yeah, I know. I was just fucking with you.” Dave said. “No. I’m not scared of you. Or anyone, really.”

“Good!” Terezi grinned. “Only the cool, strong, and totally awesome people with no fear get to hang out in can town!” She said, backing off and walking over to sit back down with her chalk.

“Can town?” Dave asked. “Sounds lame as hell.” He said.

“You’re lame as hell!” Terezi grinned. “Now bow down in front of your brilliant mayor and his mighty city planner!” She smiled.

Dave raised an eyebrow and looked at the carapacian who was wearing a homemade mayor’s sash. “No.” He said. “Aso why would a mayor who is supposedly brilliant hire a blind girl to do his city planning?” He asked.

“Don’t be stupid.” Terezi said. “Just ‘cause I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t plan an awesome city!”

“I guess.” Dave said as Karkat walked into the room, not noticing Dave leaning against the wall next to the door.

“Have you two seen Dave?” Karkat asked.

“Karkat! You know I can’t see!” Terezi said.

Karkat groaned, his crabby attitude back again. “Have you smelled him?” He asked.

Terezi laughed, almost maniacally. “Yes!” She exclaimed. “And I smelled you  **all** over him! Smelled like you were having…  **Buckets** of fun with him!”

“What?!” Karkat exclaimed, his face going red. “No! I… I was hanging out with him! We didn’t do anything with a bucket! Why would I…” He paused. “Shut the fuck up!” He exclaimed.

Terezi laughed. “Jeez Karkat! I was just messing with you.” She said. “Anyway, he’s right there.” She pointed at him and Karkat glanced over, jumping a little.

“Dave, what the fuck?!” Karkat redirected his anger which was meant to hide his embarrassment. “Why didn’t you say something?!”

“Didn’t wanna interrupt.” Dave said.

Karkat let out a frustrated breath and walked out of the room, Dave followed him.

“Hey, you okay?” Dave asked, catching up to him and walking beside him.

“I’m fine…” Karkat huffed.

Dave was quiet for a moment. “Did you want to talk to me?” He asked.

“No. Fuck off…” Karkat said, not really meaning it.

Dave frowned. “I just thought… ‘Cause you were looking for me…” He said. “I guess I’ll just leave you alone though…” He added, slowing to a stop and turning to walk down a different hallway.

Karkat continued walking for a few minutes before he sighed and turned around to follow Dave, catching up to him as Dave was opening the door to his room.

“Dave!” Karkat called, stopping Dave as he walked over. “I’m sorry I snapped at you…” He said quietly, softer than he had been earlier. “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay.” Dave said. “Are you alright.”

Karkat nodded but also shrugged. “I don’t know.” He said. “I talked to my ancestor’s alternate self. He’s kind of a prick but he said all this stuff about the version of me from his universe and I just… I don’t know. I’m kind of loathing myself right now.”

Dave reached out and gently took his hand, pulling him into his room and closing the door before he dimmed the lights and took his shades off, pulling Karkat over to sit on the bed with him.

“What did he say?” He asked him.

Karkat shrugged. “He pretty much told me I was awful and I helped the high bloods to oppress my own people…” He said. “I don’t know if I should believe him or not. I just don’t think I would ever do that… Ever… No matter what universe I’m in.” He paused. “But if I did do all of that, than… Wow, I am a huge piece of shit!”

Dave put his arm around Karkat’s waist and pulled him in to lean against him. “You’re not a piece of shit.” He said. “No matter what you did in some otherworldly past life, that doesn’t make you a bad person.” He paused. “And hey, maybe the history books have it wrong.” He said. “On Earth we have a saying, ‘history is written by the victor.’ So maybe the empress just lied or something. Our leaders have been lying to us for centuries in the name of their own agendas. I doubt the empress of troll-world is above that.”

Karkat was silent for a moment. “Yeah, maybe.” He said.

“Yeah.” Dave said, smiling a little. “Don’t worry too much about it though. It’s not like you can change the past, especially not the past from a whole other universe.”

Karkat nodded a little before the two of them shared a peaceful silence. After a couple of minutes, Karkat looked up at Dave and Dave looked down at him. Karkat pulled him into a kiss and eventually gently pushed him to lay down with him.

Dave thought they were just making out but then Karkat slid his hand in-between his legs, causing him to jump and pull away.

“Wh-what are you… What are you doing?” Dave stammered a little.

“I… I want to exchange genetic material with you…” Karkat said, his face red.

Dave stared at him for a moment. “I uh... “ He let out a breath. “Look um… I… I don’t know that I’m ready for that.” He said. “I mean, we’ve only been together for a day and I just found out I like boys. I’m not sure I’m ready to have sex with you, like, we just met and I don’t even know one hundred percent how sex works when it’s dude on dude and even if I did, I don’t even know if our anatomy is gonna be compatible…”

Karkat moved to get off of him and sat against the wall, his face still red. “Y-yeah… You’re right…” He said. “It was a dumb idea… I shouldn’t have said anything…”

Dave was silent for a moment. “I mean… Maybe in like a week or something… But not now…” He said. “Sorry…”

Karkat nodded and the boys looked at everything that wasn’t each other for a couple of minutes.

“Is it like… Normal on troll-world to um… move that fast?” Dave asked.

Karkat shrugged a little. “I wouldn’t really know…” He said. “But I’ve been told that the quicker you do it, the better because you might not live long enough to do it later and then your genetic line will end.”

Dave’s face went red. “Uh… Does that mean that you… Want to… Breed with me?” He asked.

Karkat looked away but shrugged. “I don’t know…” He said. “I just… I feel like I really like you and like our bond is pretty strong and I feel like maybe if I had a descendant, they might turn out better than I did…”

“Dude… I don’t know if it’s possible for us to have a baby and even if it was… I don’t think I’m ready to be a dad, man…” Dave said. “I like you a lot and everything and I’m sure sex is great and all but I don’t really want a baby right now… Or ever…”

Karkat looked at him. “You think we would be it’s guardians?” He asked.

Dave stared at him for a moment. “I mean… Yeah…” He said. “If I had a kid, I wouldn’t abandon it…”

Karkat lowered his eyebrows and Dave wasn’t sure if he had just offended him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way trolls grow up is wrong or anything I just meant that that isn’t really something I would want my kid to grow up dealing with.” Dave said. “I mean, I was pretty much alone as a kid ‘cause my bro ignored me most of the time when he wasn’t beating my ass and… You know… It’s just a tough way to grow up…” He paused. “I just think if I ever had a baby, I would want to be there for them at all times.”

Karkat shrugged a little. “Different cultures, I guess…” He said. “I like that you care so much about your future offspring though…”

Dave just nodded a little, not sure of what to say. He let out a breath. “By the way… You really shouldn’t be worrying about having a kid or anything right now.” He said after a minute. “You’re like, my age. A kid should be the last thing on your mind right now.”

“I guess…” Karkat said. “I’m just afraid that I’ll never get a chance to have a descendant.” He admitted. “I feel like I need to have one. That’s how our legacy is passed down in our culture. If you don’t breed, you don’t get a legacy. No one is going to fight in your name when you’re gone.”

Dave let out a breath and slid over to sit next to Karkat, leaning his own head on top of his. “Maybe it’s okay though. Not to worry about having a legacy.” He said. “Maybe you should just focus on you for right now and not worry too much about the future or whatever.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Karkat said.

“But hey,” Dave smiled after a few minutes of silence. “How about this?” He started. “How about we date for a while, we really get to know each other, and when all of this is over, like, when we defeat the empress, if we survive and we’re in love and all of that… I’ll try to help you out with the whole breeding thing. You know… If we’re compatible.” He smiled. “And hey, maybe we can even do it for fun before that too.” He added.

Karkat looked up at him, his face a little red. “Okay.” He said, smiling a little. “Cool.”

Dave smiled and kissed him before speaking. “Do you wanna go on a date tomorrow?” He asked.

Karkat smiled. “Yeah.” He said. “What kind of date?” He asked.

Dave shrugged a little. “We’ll think of something to do.” He smiled.

Karkat smiled and snuggled into Dave.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, Dave tried all morning to think of something special he and Karkat could do together but he hadn’t come up with anything, as he had never been on a real date before and wasn’t even completely sure what people did on dates. He was looking for John to give him some advice but wasn’t finding him. He walked into the rec room and halted in stunned silence as he saw Dirk and Jake making out on the couch.

Dirk looked up, having heard him walk in, and Jake’s cheeks went pink as he pushed Dirk off of himself.

Dave stared at them for a moment, not used to seeing a younger version of his bro and certainly not used to seeing his bro kissing a boy. He looked at the ground. “Sorry…” He said quietly, walking to cross the room to the other door.

“Hey, hold up.” Dirk said, standing up. “Jake, get lost.” He added.

“Well alright.” Jake smiled and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek before leaving.

Dave stood, staring at the door and thinking about taking off but he turned around to look at Dirk. “What?” He asked.

Dirk hesitated and stood a decent distance away from Dave. He shrugged a little. “Just wanted to talk to you, I guess.” He said.

“Well… We can talk later if you’re busy or whatever…” Dave said.

“Nah, I’m not busy.” Dirk said.

“You looked kind of busy…” Dave said.

“Nah, it’s cool.” Dirk said. “Jake always wants to make out and honestly it gets boring. I was trying to think of an excuse to leave, so thanks for that.”

Dave just nodded a little. 

“So Rox said you didn’t wanna talk to me ‘cause your dad version of me is a total ass-wipe or something.” Dirk said, nodding. “That’s fair. I don’t know what I did but sorry I was a prick to you or whatever.”

Dave stared at him for a moment. “It’s cool.” He said, though that’s not how he felt.

Dirk nodded. “I know a lie when I hear one but it’s chill. You don’t have to explain anything to me if you don’t want to, it’s cool.” He said. “But hey man… I just wanted to say that, when you were my dad, you were the best dad ever. And I’m pretty pissed that my version of you died.” He added, still with his stoic expression.

“I… I was a good dad?” Dave asked.

“Yeah, man.” Dirk said. “You were fucking awesome.” He paused. “Just wanted to say that to you ‘cause… Well, I didn’t tell my version of you that kind of shit before he died. I mean, I hope he knew everything I wanted to say and all but… You know… Just felt like a piece of shit for not saying it.”

Dave nodded. “Well… I’m glad you got a chance to say it to me, I guess…” He said. “But… No offense but you were the worst fucking dad in the world.”

“No offense taken.” Dirk said.

Dave nodded.

“I never did think I would be good with kids.” Dirk said. “Thank god I’m gay.” He said, seeming like he was trying to make a joke but he didn’t smile at all so Dave wasn’t sure.

Dave just stood there in silence.

“Right so like, when you say I was a shit dad,” Dirk started. “Like, if you don’t wanna talk about it that’s fine but… How bad was I?” He asked.

“You… You beat the fucking shit out of me every time I see you.” Dave said. “I kind of fucking hate you. The only time you ever even seem to talk to me is when you’re kicking the shit out of me and telling me I’m not good enough…” He paused. Dirk’s face was emotionless, just like his bro’s. “You never once told me you loved me. I always felt like a fucking burden when you were around. You never taught me how to cook or clean or take care of myself. All you taught me was fear and you managed to give me nightmares and never let me have a full night’s sleep.” He said, feeling like he needed to get it all off of his chest. “You made me sleep on the roof outside if I wasn’t good enough!” He exclaimed a little, getting heated at the thought of everything his bro had put him through. “You told me my mom never wanted me and made me feel like shit. If you ever cared about me, I never fucking noticed.” He said, stopping abruptly, knowing that if he kept going, he was going to start crying and that was the last thing he wanted. He stared at Dirk for a moment. Dirk looked like he wasn’t reacting at all and Dave was about to leave when he felt a pang of guilt. “I…” He said. “I’m sorry… I know it wasn’t really you… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to get pissed at you… I’m sorry…” He shook, feeling like a scared kid again.

“Nah… It’s okay.” Dirk said. “I’m sorry my shit-awful double did that to you.” He paused. “If it means anything… I mean, I doubt it does but, if it means anything to you… I won’t do anything like that.”

Dave nodded a little.

“Do you wanna get wasted and talk shit about me?” Dirk asked. “I won’t mind at all.”

Dave was tempted but he shook his head. “No, sorry…” He said. “I gotta stay sober today, I have a date later.”

“Oh okay. Cool.” Dirk said. “Who’s the lucky guy?” He asked.

“Why do you think I’m with a guy?” Dave asked, slightly defensively. “I mean, I am… But why did you assume it?”

Dirk raised an eyebrow. “Rox said you liked boys.” He said.

“Oh…” Dave said. There was a semi awkward silence between them. “I’m going out with Karkat.” He added.

Dirk nodded. “I haven’t met him yet.” He said. “At least not in-person.” He added.

“He’s cool.” Dave said. “Cranky as hell but cool.”

Dirk nodded. “Well uh… Have fun, I guess.” He said.

“Yeah… Thanks.” Dave said, letting the room fill with silence again before he left.

Dave headed out and ended up in the pool room where John and Jade were lounging with Kanaya.

Dave walked over and plopped down on the floor with them. “What is it with you guys and this room?” He asked. “I swear every time I walk through the castle there’s at least one person in here.”

John shrugged. “It’s nice in here.” He said.

“It has better air conditioning because the air is trying to simulate being on a beach.” Jade explained.

“I am simply fascinated with the fact that the water is kept on the ceiling.” Kanaya said. “It’s a strange concept.”

Dave nodded. “Well anyway, I need some help.” He said.

“What do you need, buddy?” John asked, his normal goofy smile on his face.

Dave hesitated, glancing at Jade. “It’s about Karkat.” He said.

“It’s fine, Dave.” Jade said. “I want you to be happy.”

Dave nodded a little. “Okay well, we have a date later tonight and I don’t know how to make a date like a normal person. Like, I’ve never been on a date before. I don’t know what I’m doing.” He said.

Kanaya lowered her eyebrows. “I’m sorry but… You have a date with Karkat?” She asked.

“Uh… Yeah.” Dave said.

Kanaya raised one eyebrow. “And are you two an item of some sort?” She asked.

“Sort of yeah.” Dave said. “Sort of since yesterday.”

Kanaya let out a breath that sounded strained as her expression changed to one of mild annoyance.

“Is that okay?” Dave asked. “You two don’t have a thing, do you?”

“No, of course not.” Kanaya said. “We are simply very good friends.” She paused. “I just didn’t know he was seeing someone and he is normally very vocal about these types of things... Now I have to wonder if I've done something to make him think that he needs to keep things from me.” The others looked at her. “Not that it’s any of my business…” She added.

“Yeah, it’s really not!” Another voice exclaimed from above them, making Dave jump a little.

He looked up to see Vriska floating upside down in the pool.

“Don’t mind her.” Vriska smiled. “She’s always meddling in other people’s relationships.” She said. “But I personally think it’s **so** cute that Karkat is dating a human.” She added in a mocking tone. “It’s really adorable that no one in his own species was willing to put up with him.”

Dave lowered his eyebrows. “What’s your problem with Karkat?” He asked.

Vriska shrugged but smiled at Dave in a way that made him uneasy.

“Ignore her.” Kanaya said. “What is it that humans say? Her bark is worse than her bite?”

“Yeah.” Dave said, looking back to Kanaya. “Yeah that’s the saying.”

“That’s a stupid saying.” Vriska said. “And you know I have a particularly strong bite.” She grinned.

“Okay I feel like you have a problem with each other and I’m just getting in the middle.” Dave said. “And I’m not cool with being in the middle of whatever this is so I’m gonna leave.”

“Suit yourself.” Vriska said as Dave stood up.

Dave walked out of the pool room and John and Jade followed him until they got to the game room and Dave paced a little bit before stopping to stand with his friends. “So what do I do about Karkat?” He asked. “I don’t know how to date.”

Jade shrugged. “I’ve never been on a date.” She said. “Unless you count the one you stood me up on.” She added.

“Sorry…” Dave said.

“We’re alright.” Jade said. “I’m just gonna bring it up every once in a while.” She smiled.

Dave smiled a little.

“Well I’ve been on a date!” John smiled proudly.

Dave looked at him. “John, your date with Rose doesn’t count. She’s a lesbian who went out with you once out of pity.” He said.

Jade raised an eyebrow. “Wait, Rose is a lesbian?” She asked.

The boys hesitated, forgetting that Jade didn’t know.

“Why am I the last to know about this stuff?!” Jade asked. “John what about you? Are you a bisexual or something and I don’t know about it?”

“What? No!” John exclaimed, his face turning red. “I’m straight!”

“Well tell me if that changes!” Jade said. “I hate being out of the loop!”

John smiled a little. “Okay…” He laughed a little. “But yeah, no. My date with Rose totally counts! We had a great time!” He said. “Just because she wasn’t romantically interested doesn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the date!”

Dave raised his eyebrow. “Dude, you didn’t enjoy it.” He said. “You came back to our Garrison dorm room all confused and having an existential crisis because she treated the date like a psychoanalysis study.”

“Well… We had fun before that.” John said.

Dave groaned a little. “Maybe this was a mistake.” He said. “Maybe I should go talk to Roxy. He looks like he’s been on a couple of dates.”

John shrugged. “He looks like you.” He said.

“Really?” Dave asked. “I didn’t notice.”

“Yeah, he really does look like you.” Jade said.

“Well that would explain why he looks so hot.” Dave smiled sarcastically.

John and Jade grimaced a little.

“What?” Dave asked. “You guys know I’m gay now. I can call guys sexy and hot and shit now. Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m only making this face because Roxy looks like you but he also looks like Rose so if you say he looks hot then that means you think Rose is hot and that’s weird.” John said.

Dave grimaced. “He looks nothing like Rose!” He said.

“He’s literally her dad. They look pretty similar.” Jade said.

“Eww.” Dave said. “Great, thanks a lot. I feel strangely ashamed now and a little freudian.”

Jade laughed a little and John smiled sympathetically.

“Sorry dude.” John said. “You can’t have a decade old running joke about Rose being your sister and then talk about how hot her dad is. It’s bound to get weird.”

Dave shook it off. “Yeah okay, whatever. Pretend I never said anything.” He said. “Anyway, back to my date problem.”

“Yeah!” John said. “Okay! So my dad told me about everything to do for a lady on a date. I don’t know a lot about what to do when you’re dating a boy but it can’t be that different.” He smiled. “So you need to buy some flowers and give them to him at the beginning of the date, then you need to take him to a nice restaurant and let him get the most expensive thing on the menu, even if that means that you have to get the cheapest thing. You also need to pull the chair out for him and listen really intently to everything he says. Make sure you talk more about him than you do about you and make sure to tell jokes you think he’ll like!” He explained. “My dad also says that girls like being serenaded by a gentleman but I don’t know if guys like that and I also don’t think rapping counts so maybe you can skip that part.”

“Wait,” Dave interrupted. “Did you try to serenade Rose?” He asked, smiling.

“Uh…” John said. “I might have…”

Dave laughed. “Please tell me you didn’t sing that shitty song from Con-Air.” He said.

John’s face turned bright red. “I… Well…” He stammered. “It’s the only song I know by heart okay!” He exclaimed.

Dave laughed and Jade soon followed him with giggles.

“Hey do you want my dad’s advice or not?!” John asked, a little defensively.

Dave nodded, getting the last few laughs out. “Yeah man.” He said. “Keep going.”

John nodded. “Okay…” He said. “So after dinner, you need to take him on a walk on the beach, preferably you need to buy both of you milkshakes or something to drink during the walk and then you take him home and kiss him on the cheek before he goes inside.”

Dave nodded. “Okay no offense but that sounds like a lame date. Also how am I supposed to take him to dinner and a walk on the beach? We’re on a spaceship.” He said.

“Uh…” John said. “I don’t know. But that’s how my dad says to do things.”

Dave nodded but before he could say anything, Keith’s voice came over the ships coms.

“Attention.” Keith said. “We’re leaving the planet in ten minutes. We’ll be heading for the carapacian homeworld, Skaia, to drop off our guests, but we’ll be stopping on the way there on a tourist planet near here for additional supplies. Without the teludav, it’s going to take a couple of hours to get to the next planet but hopefully we can find some supplies to fix it before we head to Skaia. If you need to get some rest, I suggest you do that now, but Lance wants to talk to everyone onboard before we land.” He explained before ending the transmission.

John grinned. “A tourist planet!” He exclaimed. “That’s perfect! You get to take Karkat on a date on a tourist planet!”

“Do you think he’d like that?” Dave asked, a little nervous about it. “I feel like he would probably just get pissed off about being considered a tourist.” He smiled a little.

“He’s always pissed.” Jade said.

Dave smiled. “No, he’s just mad when he’s around other people.” He said. “He’s actually a total sweetheart.”

John raised an eyebrow. “I can’t believe I just heard the word sweetheart come out of your mouth.” He said, smiling.

“Yeah!” Jade smiled. “Karkat must really be working some magic on you!” She said, nudging him playfully with her elbow. “You’re all smiley and talking about dates. It’s adorable!”

Dave’s face went red. “I’m not adorable!” He said, embarrassed.

“I bet you think Karkat is adorable!” John said before he stood up straight, trying to look taller than Dave. “Hey everyone! I’m Dave and I think Karkat is just the bee’s knees! He is just the sweetest cutest boy ever!” He imitated playfully. “He’s my pudding pop! My most beautiful of flowers! Prettier than a painting! He makes me feel all squishy and soft inside!”

“Would you shut the fuck up?” Dave asked, his head in his hands and his face burning.

John and Jade laughed.

“It’s okay to be all lovey, you know!” Jade smiled. “I like that you’re happy for once instead of just apathetic.”

Dave let out a breath and shook his head a little. “He does make me happy…” He whispered. “But shut up.” He added, walking out of the room for a moment before he popped his head back in and looked at John. “Thanks for the advice… Don’t show up and fuck up my date tonight.” He said, smiling a little before leaving again and heading out to find Lance and figure out what he wanted.

He found him in the educational room. “Why does this ship have so many stupid rooms?” He asked, causing Lance to look at him.

Lance smiled. “It’s not stupid.” He said. “This room is a learning database.”

“I thought that was what the library was for.” Dave said, stepping in further and looking at some of the screens.

“The library is a database for books. This room is for everything else. Plus this room’s database doesn’t include fiction so it’s easier to sift through and learn things.” Lance said.

Dave nodded. “So why did you want to talk to everyone before we head to the tourist planet?” He asked.

Lance smiled and walked over to the door, gesturing for Dave to follow him. After a few minutes of walking, they came to a door that had a passcode on in and he typed in the code and let Dave in with him. It was an office area with shelves and filing cabinets as well as digital database stations.

Lance walked over to the desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a stack of what looked like credit cards that were connected with a rubber band.

“I noticed that you guys were all traveling pretty light.” Lance said, pulling one of the cards out and putting the rest back before pulling a device with a keypad out and typing a number into it before scanning the card with it by waving it at a sensor on the top. “I made unit cards for each of you and I’m putting two-thousand units on each of them.” He added, scanning the card again to make sure the units had transferred over correctly before handing it to Dave. “Don’t spend it all in one place.” He smiled.

“Oh… Cool. Thanks.” Dave said. “I have no idea what a unit is.” He added, taking the card.

“It’s a universal currency. It was decided on a few hundred years ago. It makes it easier to buy stuff in space because it’ll convert to any currency when the card is used.” He explained.

“Oh. Cool.” Dave said. “Isn’t two-thousand a little much though?” He asked.

“Nope.” Lance said. “In comparison to dollars, I just gave you about two-hundred bucks, give or take. Even less in altean. Units are just a little different.” He explained. “Just don’t buy anything if the person selling it won't tell you how much the converted price is. You don't want to get conned out of money without knowing it.”

Dave nodded. “Thanks, Lance.” He said, smiling at him.

“No problem, bud.” Lance smiled. “Have fun on the planet when we dock and get yourself some new stuff.” He said.

“Will do.” Dave smiled and walked away.

Dave headed to Karkat’s room but he didn’t find him there and so he wrote him a quick note and taped it to his door to let him know that he was planning a date for them and that, once they landed, he would come and get him. He then went to his own room to psyche himself up for his date.

* * *

A couple of hours passed and Dave heard the announcement that they had landed on the tourist planet. Keith let everyone know that they had exactly forty-eight hours before they needed to be back on the ship before he let them go, sending them each a digital map of the planet and the region they had landed in as well.

Dave tried to sneak out without Karkat seeing him so he could buy him a gift before their date but Karkat was waiting by the entrance for him and so he walked over to him as everyone else was walking outside.

“Hey.” Dave smiled.

“Hey.” Karkat said. “I got your note.”

Dave nodded. “Cool.” He said. “I wanna get you something without you seeing it though so do you want to just hang out here and then I can come back and get you.”

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Why?” He asked. “You just told me you were getting me something. Kinda ruins the surprise of it.”

Dave hesitated but shrugged a little. “Yeah I guess you’re right.” He smiled, letting out a slightly embarrassed laugh. “Okay, let’s go.” He added.

Karkat smiled a little and blushed slightly before quickly putting his hand in Dave’s and walking out with him.

The two of them stayed with the crowd from the ship initially before Karkat brought out his palmhusk and pulled out the map of the area. “Where do you want to go?” He asked.

Dave leaned over to look at the map. “I don’t know.” He said. “Maybe we could go to a shop or something.”

Karkat nodded and checked the map before looking up and pulling Dave in the direction of a building that appeared to be a shopping mall.

The two of them entered and walked around for a little while but a lot of the merchandise was foreign to them.

Dave saw a floral shop in the distance though and stopped before looking at Karkat and pulling him over to sit on a bench. “Look that way.” He said, pointing in the direction they came from. “I’ll be right back.”

Karkat seemed confused but he didn’t object and Dave quickly walked over to the shop and browsed the plants. Most of which didn’t look like anything he had ever seen before. He walked over to see a sign that warned that some flowers may cause severe allergic reactions in certain aliens species. He grimaced a little and walked over to the register area.

“Hey do you have anything from Earth?” He asked the vendor.

The alien who was working there sighed a little. “I don’t even know what Earth is.” They said.

“It’s a planet.” Dave said. “How about Alternia? You have anything from Alternia?”

“I think so…” The alien said, walking around and looking at some shelves before picking up a single potted flower that was looking a little droopy. “Here.” They said.

“This is alternian?” Dave asked.

“Probably.” The vendor said, shrugging. “I’ve only worked here for like, a week though so… I don’t really know.”

Dave sighed and picked up the plant. “Do you know if it could cause any allergic reactions in alternian trolls or in humans?” He asked.

“Not really… Just don’t touch it or eat it, I guess.” The vendor said.

Dave stared at it for a moment before he looked at the Vendor. “Do you have like, bouquets of these?” He asked.

The vendor sighed. “Let me check in the back.” They said, walking away and coming back a few minutes later with a bouquet of the same flower, though it still looked droopy and Dave assumed it was supposed to look like that.

“Okay, thanks.” He said, putting the potted plant back on the shelf and taking the bouquet from the vendor. “How much?” He asked.

“One-hundred and thirty-eight units.” The vendor said.

Dave hesitated. “Do you have a conversion so I can figure out how much that is?” He asked.

The vendor sighed and walked over to the register before pointing to a digital panel with a keypad on it.

Dave looked at it and realized it was a currency converter. He typed in dollars and units and found out that the bouquet only cost twelve dollars before he nodded. “Okay, cool. I’ll take it.” He said.

The vendor nodded and rang him up before he paid and walked out of the shop, holding the flowers behind his back as he walked up to Karkat, who was obediently looking in the direction Dave had told him to.

“Hey.” Dave smiled and Karkat looked at him. “So I don’t know if I got something good or something bad but the shop guy said they were alternian so…” He paused, bringing the flowers out from behind his back and holding them out for Karkat.

Karkat stood up and looked at the flowers. “Oh…” He said. “You… You got me… Um... “ His face went a little red. “Thank you…” He said quickly before accepting the flowers.

Dave nodded. “So… Are those good flowers?” He asked.

Karkat nodded, his face still red.

“Cool…” Dave said, standing awkwardly for a moment before he smiled a little and took Karkat’s hand. “Are you hungry?” He asked. “I thought that maybe we could go get something to eat and maybe go to the beach or something… You know, if they have a beach here.”

Karkat just nodded, smelling his flowers and smiling a little, face still red.

“Okay, cool.” Dave said, leading Karkat back to the exit of the building and checking his map to find a restaurant.

The two of them walked silently for a while as Dave headed in the direction of a restaurant that had a lot of good reviews and once they got there he started wondering if he could afford it.

The building looked like it was partially made out of gold and most of the people around looked like they were in fancy outfits, though Dave couldn’t really tell when it came to alien attire.

Dave led Karkat to the door and went inside, getting seated surprisingly quickly.

Dave pulled Karkat’s chair out for him which made Karkat’s face go a deep red color before a waiter brought them their menus, which were electronic, with holograms of the items that could be displayed for viewing.

Dave opened up the menu and felt his soul die a little when he looked at the prices.

“Um…” Karkat said. “Do you know what any of this is?” He asked.

“I have no idea.” Dave said honestly.

Karkat nodded and looked at a couple of the dishes before looking at something that looked slightly normal to aternian food. “I think I’ll get the um…” He paused, trying to figure out the pronunciation of the food. “The meat noodle thing with the leaf on it…” He said, pointing to the item on the menu.

Dave nodded, finding the item on his own menu. “Yeah…” He said. “I think I’ll go for that too. Almost looks like it’s normal.” He added.

“That’s what I thought.” Karkat said.

Dave nodded. “Do you think they have apple juice here?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged but looked at the drinks section of the menu. “Uh… I don’t know.” He said. “I don’t know what any of this is.” He said.

Dave shrugged. “I’ll ask the waiter.” He said.

Karkat nodded and closed his menu as a waiter walked over with some waters.

“Are you ready?” They asked.

“Uh yeah.” Dave said, opening up the hologram for what they both wanted. “We’ll both take one of these.” He said. “And do you have any apple juice?” He asked.

The waiter wrote down the food order before speaking. “We don’t have apple juice but I can bring you an authentic Earth apple martini.” They offered.

“Uh… Yeah sure.” Dave said. “Karkat, do you want anything like that?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged a little. “I guess I’ll have the same.” He said, having no idea what an apple martini was.

Dave nodded. “Okay.” He said, closing his menu and handing it to the waiter who informed them that he would be right back with their orders.

The two boys sat in silence for a moment and Dave tapped his fingers on the table as Karkat sniffed at his flowers again before setting them back down on the table.

“So…” Dave said. “What’s up?” He asked, feeling embarrassed as soon as he spoke.

“Um… Not much…” Karkat said. “Thanks again for the flowers…”

“Oh yeah.” Dave said. “No problem.” He said, his face going red with embarrassment. There was a slightly awkward pause before Dave spoke again. “Sorry…” He said. “I’ve never been on a date before so I want this to be really nice but I don’t actually know what I’m doing, honestly.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” Karkat said. “I’ve never been on a date either. I don’t know how it works.”

Dave nodded. “Well I guess we should talk about ourselves and get to know each other, huh?” He said.

“Yeah I guess we should.” Karkat said, pausing a little. “So… What kind of stuff do you like?” He asked.

“Uh… I like rapping.” Dave said. “I also like photography… I like dead shit… Paleontology or whatever…” He paused. “What about you?” He asked.

“I like shitty romance movies and shitty romance books and shitty romance everything.” Karkat said, cheeks red. “But I guess you already sort of knew that.” He paused. “I used to like to pretend I was good at programming and codes and stuff but I was actually really shitty at it.”

Dave smiled a little. “That’s pretty cool.” He said.

Karkat shrugged. “So how come you like dead shit?” He asked.

Dave shrugged a little. “I don’t really know.” He said. “I’ve just always thought it was cool.” He paused, remembering that John told him to talk about Karkat more than he talked about himself. “So what made you like romance stuff so much?” He asked.

Karkat’s face went a little red. “I don’t know… I just… I like it…” He said awkwardly.

Dave nodded and there was an awkward silence. “So… Do you have any favorite books or anything?” He asked.

Karkat shrugged. “They’re all pretty shitty.” He said. “So do you take a lot of pictures?” He asked.

“Yeah I used to but I don’t have a camera now so I don’t really dabble anymore.” Dave said.

“How come you don’t have a camera anymore?” Karkat asked.

Dave shrugged. “Well when I was a kid I got a shitty used one ‘cause it was cheap and I had been selling pirated knockoff movies and I didn’t have a lot of money from that.” He said. “So yeah, it broke after a couple of years. Never really had enough to replace it.” He paused. “So uhm… Yeah…” He said, knowing nothing about programming but wanting to make Karkat feel like he really cared about his interests. “Romance movies are good…” He said awkwardly.

“Yeah I guess…” Karkat said, raising an eyebrow. “So what’s rapping?” He asked.

“Uh… You know, like, singing but rapping.” Dave said. “Slam poetry. Sick beats. Lyrical badassery.”

Karkat stared at him for a moment before he shrugged, not knowing anything about rap.

“Uh…” Dave’s face went a little pink as he thought about rapping for Karkat in the middle of a nice restaurant and hesitated, deciding against it. “I’ll show you some of my lyrical genius when we get back to the castle.” He said.

“Okay.” Karkat said as the waiter came back with their apple martinis and set them down, promising that their food would be out shortly before leaving again.

Dave stared at the drink. It was not an authentic Earth apple martini. It was a neon blue color and had a fruit that he didn’t recognize on the edge of the glass.

He and Karkat stared at the drinks for a moment before Dave awkwardly clinked his glass against Karkat’s. “Cheers or whatever.” He said awkwardly before bringing it to his mouth and hesitating before he sipped on it while Karkat did the same.

It was one of the worst things he had ever tasted. He swallowed though, not wanting to spit it out in front of his date. He tensed up and slapped the table once as the drink passed through his throat. He felt like he was going to cry but stopped himself before looking at Karkat who was chugging the drink. Dave’s eye twitched and he felt like he had to chug too but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Karkat downed his entire drink before looking at Dave, pain in his eyes. “Amazing…” He choked. “You have great taste in drinks…” He coughed, having not enjoyed it at all but wanting Dave to feel good about it.

Dave tried to hold it in but started coughing into his hand and Karkat downed some water.

After a couple of minutes, Dave caught his breath and looked at Karkat. “I’m so sorry.” He said. “I thought that would be good.”

Karkat waved his hand in dismissal. “It was great.” He lied. “Really great…”

“It was awful dude.” Dave admitted.

Karkat hesitated but nodded. “Yeah it was pretty bad.” He said.

Dave nodded. “Sorry.” He said.

“It’s fine…” Karkat said, drinking some more water.

Dave pushed his martini away from himself. 

“So why did you order an apple martini if you don’t like apple martinis?” Karkat asked.

“I thought it would taste different.” Dave said. “Also I don’t know what that was but it wasn’t apple flavored. I’m not sure if they know what apples are.”

Karkat nodded a little and the boys sat in silence for a moment before Dave let out a breath and tapped his fingers against the table.

Karkat tapped his foot for a moment before he shook his head and looked at Dave. “Okay.” He said. “This feels weird. Can we just pretend we’re hanging out like normal?” He asked.

“That would be cool.” Dave said, already letting himself relax a little at the prospect.

Karkat nodded. “Okay.” He said. “Alright. Good.” He paused, letting himself lean back in his chair and letting out a breath, relaxing. “So why were you asking me so much about my movie taste and stuff?” He asked.

Dave hesitated. “Well, since I’ve never been on a date before I asked John for advice, which, in retrospect, not the best idea.” He said, smiling a little. “But he said to make sure to talk about stuff you like more than talking about myself so that you would know that I care more about you or something.”

Karkat nodded. “Yeah don’t take advice from the dumb-ass.” He smiled. “But I’d rather talk about your shit, really. I mean, I like crappy romance stuff and I could probably talk about that stuff all day, but that’s more of something I like to show people and then bitch about it with them or give people romantic advice, as if I know what I’m doing. But we can always watch some shitty movies together later. I’d rather hear about your stuff.” He explained.

Dave smiled. “Okay.” He said as the waiter came back over with their food. Dave thought they were a little too quick but he assumed they had faster cooks with better tech than restaurants on Earth had. He and Karkat thanked the waiter and tasted their food. It wasn’t bad and in fact was quite good.

“So,” Karkat said, swallowing a mouthful of alien noodles and meat. “How come you became a space pilot if you were into paleontology?” He asked.

Dave shrugged, trying to eat without slurping the long noodles. “My bro thought paleontology was a dead-end career.” He explained. “Said I would be better off at the Garrison. As if he knows better, I swear the guy never held a stable job in his life.”

“Maybe when all of this is over you could ditch space and dig up dead shit.” Karkat suggested.

Dave smiled. “Yeah, maybe.” He said. “That would be cool.” He paused to eat a bite. “So what do you wanna do when all of this is over?” He asked.

“I mean, I think I’ll just be happy not to die but…” Karkat paused. “I don’t know… It’s kind of stupid but I’ve always wanted to own a book store or something. Like one of those small shitty romance book stores where all the book covers have half naked characters on them.” He let out a small laugh. “I mean, when I was younger, the stuff I do now is that kind of stuff I dreamed about. I wanted to be a leader and a warrior but now that I’ve done a little of that… I just want a quiet life with a quiet book store.”

Dave smiled. “I think that’s really awesome.” He said.

Karkat smiled.

The boys continued to talk as they ate. Karkat told Dave about Alternia and Dave told Karkat about Earth. They complained about things that annoyed them and laughed at stupid things until they were done. Dave paid and took Karkat for a walk on the beach as the planet’s sun was setting. The flowers he had gotten him seemed to bloom and come alive as soon as the sun went down. They glowed in the dark and Karkat held them close, grinning at them whenever he didn’t think anyone was looking.

Dave bought them both some alien ice cream and they ate it on the beach before they finally headed back to the ship. The first people they ran into on the way back to their room were Rose and Kanaya. Kanaya looked a little stunned when she saw Karkat's flowers and Karkat’s face went a little red. Kanaya eyed the flowers and smiled a little.

“Good date?” She asked.

Karkat nodded and held the flowers up so she could see them.

Kanaya leaned in to smell them, seemingly enjoying the scent. “I’ve only seen those in Feferi's old respiteblock.” She said.

Karkat smiled. “Yeah.” He said, smelling them again.

Dave raised an eyebrow and Kanaya noticed, saying something in alternian which Dave realized was the name of the flowers.

“They are the most rare flower on Alternia.” She said. “Reserved only for royalty.”

Dave went a little red, not realizing until now that he had given Karkat such a rare gift but he smiled, happy he had. “Well they should be showering my boy Karkat with them ‘cause he deserves them.” He said and Karkat went red again, smiling.

“Yes he does.” Kanaya smiled and looked at Rose. The two of them walked away and the boys continued to walk to the bedrooms.

Dave walked over to Karkat’s door and stood with him for a moment before he put his hand in Karkat’s and placed a gentle kiss to his cheek. “I had a really great time with you tonight, Karkat.” He said.

Karkat smiled and pulled him back in for a deep kiss, pulling away after a moment. “I did too.” He said. “With you.” He added, slightly awkwardly but not as awkward as the two of them had been earlier.

Dave smiled, lingering near him for a moment before he pulled away. “So… I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked, as if they didn’t live on the same ship with a near one-hundred percent chance of seeing each other every day.

Karkat smiled and nodded. “You sure you don’t wanna come in and… Hang out for a little while?” He asked, trying to hint to him that he wanted to do more than hang out.

Dave went a little red, hesitating. He had never been intimate with anyone before and he was worried about the whole alien anatomy thing, as well as being worried about ruining their relationship by moving too fast, but he did want him. “I do…” He said. “But… I um… I’m honestly a little…” He hesitated. “Scared, I guess…”

Karkat looked a little confused but nodded. “We don’t have to do anything.” He said. “Not if you don’t want to… But… I do want to. So when you want to… I’m ready.”

Dave smiled. “I’m really tempted to slide into your room and do whatever you want honestly.” He said. “I just, I don’t wanna ruin anything. You know?” He said. “Plus… I mean, If we did anything… I’m still not ready to like, reproduce or anything…”

Karkat nodded. “We don’t have to use the genetic material or anything if you don’t want to.” He said. “But it’s up to you.” He added. “If you want to come in, you can, and we can do whatever you want. But if you want to go to your room that’s okay too.”

Dave lingered, looking into Karkat’s grey eyes for a long minute before he opened Karkat’s door and gently pulled him inside, not bothering to turn on the lights, as the glowing from the flowers gave just enough light for them to see the room.

Karkat’s room was just as empty as Dave’s except for a recuperacoon that was against the wall opposite of the bed. There was some slime that dripped onto the floor but otherwise it was clean.

Dave took off his sunglasses and placed them on the nightstand before he kissed Karkat, leading him to the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, y'all. I have a ton of plans for this fic and I'm looking forward to writing more, but I totally forgot to write it for a little while lol. I've also been a little busy lately so updates might be a little scattered. Just know I'm working on it when I can and I appreciate your patience and support. ^u^


	13. Chapter 13

Things had been a little awkward the previous night as the two boys figured out how to be intimate with each other, but once the deed was done, neither of them regretted it. Karkat had pulled a bucket out of the bathroom closet for their genetic material and explained its purpose to Dave with red cheeks before they continued and explored each other.

Dave woke up with Karkat’s head buried into his chest and smiled, wrapping his arms around him a little tighter. The flowers on Karkat’s nightstand next to Dave’s sunglasses were curling down as the automatic morning lights flickered on and Dave reached out to grab his sunglasses as Karkat started to move a little.

Dave felt Karkat’s breathing on his chest change as he woke up.

“Hey.” Dave smiled, looking down at his boyfriend.

Karkat grumbled a noise that sounded like a good morning.

“Hey, quick question.” Dave said, getting Karkat to look up at him before he continued. “What exactly are we supposed to do with a bucket full of your bodily fluids?” He asked, making Karkat’s face go red.

“It’s not all mine…” Karkat said defensively.

“Mostly yours.” Dave said. “But I don’t really know what to do with it. Do we flush it down the toilet?” He asked.

Karkat pulled away from his boyfriend to stretch before he sat up and looked at the bucket that was next to the bed. He shrugged a little. “We can add it to the freezer.” He said.

“The what?” Dave asked in surprise. “Do you have a fucking jizz freezer somewhere that I don’t know about?”

Karkat’s cheeks went even redder. “No.” He said but then shrugged a little. “I mean, it’s not mine.” He said.

“Oh my god.” Dave laughed a little. “Please tell me more about this right now.”

“I’m not even supposed to know about it but apparently Sollux has been putting his and Fef’s genetic material into an unused freezer inside the Black Lion so that they can use it someday and because there isn’t anywhere else to put it in space.” Karkat explained.

“You don’t think he would be pissy if you added your juices to his and his girlfriends?” Dave asked.

“No.” Karkat said. “All genetic material gets mixed together on Alternia.”

“Right.” Dave said, sitting up. “Well okay but I’m not gonna carry it all the way to the Black Lion. I don’t want anyone being like ‘hey what’s up with the bucket full of weird red liquid?’ ‘Cause it would be a little embarrassing to be like ‘oh yeah, that’s my boyfriend’s love juices I’m gonna go put them in a freezer, don’t ask why.’”

Karkat flushed deeper and put his head in his hands. “Yeah that would be fucking embarrassing…” He said.

Dave smiled. “Maybe we can wait until everyone goes to bed tonight and you can carry it and I’ll just walk with you and keep people from looking at it.” He said.

Karkat just nodded, his head still buried.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed yet.” Dave said, lightly tapping his boyfriend on the shoulder and getting him to unbury his head. “No one even knows we fucked yet.” As soon as he said it, the door opened and Sollux walked in.

“Hey Kk I-” He stopped as he saw the two of them in bed together and the bucket on the floor. “Oh for the love of fuck…” He said, turning around and leaving.

Karkat stayed still in a moment of stunned silence before he leapt out of bed and shoved his pants on, running out to the hall and catching up to Sollux. He stopped in front of him and Solluc stopped with him but didn’t give him time to explain the situation before he let loose.

“Fuck, Karkat, what are you thinking?!” He exclaimed. “You barely fucking know that guy and he’s not even one of us! What’s wrong with you?!” He shoved past his best friend and kept walking.

Karkat stopped him again. “What’s wrong with me?! What’s wrong with you?!” He exclaimed, now angry that his best friend was being so judgemental. “You can’t judge me for shit! You’re with someone who doesn’t even give a shit about you and you you sneak around like it’s some secret because you know she doesn’t want anyone knowing she would fuck you! You don’t even know Dave! You haven’t even given him a chance! You just decided you hated him without even talking to him because you have some stupid fucking misplaced jealousy!”

“I’m not jealous!” Sollux quickly shot back.

“The fuck you aren’t!” Karkat exclaimed. “Whether it’s jealousy because you want me or jealousy because you want someone who actually gives a shit about you or maybe both, I don’t fucking know but you need to stop being a fucking asshole about it! Get over it and stop acting like I’m terrible for being with someone when you were sleeping with Feferi five minutes after meeting her!”

“Maybe you should say it louder, I don’t know if the people three planets away heard you!” Sollux said angrily.

Karkat let out a breath but let himself calm down a little. “Whatever…” He said. “Either deal with your shit and stop being a fucking asshole or stop talking to me because I’m not going to deal with it.” He started walking back in the direction of his room before he turned around to see Sollux looking at him. “I really like Dave. He’s not going away and I wish you would just get over whatever it is that’s pissing you off and give him a chance because you’re like, my best friend and all that bullshit…” He said quietly. “Also learn how to fucking knock, you fucking idiot.” He added, somewhat louder before walking back into his room where Dave was now fully dressed.

“You okay?” Dave asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” Karkat said, plopping down on the bed next to his boyfriend. “Sollux is just being a moody bitch like usual.”

“Well he’s probably pretty pissed he didn’t get to take your virginity or whatever.” Dave said.

“I don’t know what that is.” Karkat said.

“I mean he wanted to be the first person to fuck you and now he can’t be and he’s probably mad about it.” Dave explained.

“Oh…” Karkat said. “Maybe…” He added, leaning his head against Dave’s shoulder.

“You wanna go get breakfast?” Dave asked.

“I’d rather go back to bed.” Karkat said.

“Like you’re still tired or like a depression nap?” Dave asked. “Because I used to take a lot of depression naps until Rose started coming into my room while I slept and lecturing me on the negative effects of depression naps every single time I took one to the point where I couldn’t take one without hearing her dumb therapist voice in my head.” He said as Karkat looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. “Anyway, I hear depression naps are bad for you most of the time.”

Karkat let his head fall back to Dave’s shoulder. “Well I’m still tired.” He said. “I’m always tired though.” He added.

“Well then I guess you should take a nap.” Dave said. “I’m hungry though so I’m gonna go eat breakfast and try to avoid Sollux’s wrathful stare.”

“Good luck with that.” Karkat said, raising his head only to resituate himself to go back to bed.

“You want me to bring you some food after breakfast?” Dave asked.

“Sure.” Karkat said, rolling onto his side.

“Okay.” Dave said, leaning down and kissing him before he left the room.

* * *

Dave had breakfast with everyone else but Sollux didn’t seem as angry at him as he thought he would be and barely spared him a glance. Afterward, Dave boxed up some of the waffles, eggs, bacon, and sausage that Jade, Lance, Terezi, Kanaya, Rose, and John had made, though Terezi was mostly helping so she could steal more before it was served and have a double serving. Dave took the food with a plastic fork to Karkat’s room but John, Jade, and Rose stopped him on the way there.

“How’d your date go, man?!” John exclaimed quietly.

Dave’s cheeks went a little pink and he let out a little nervous laugh. “Oh it was great. I did everything you told me to do except I didn’t serenade him.” He said, hoping his friend’s wouldn’t be able to tell he had slept with Karkat on the first date.

Rose smiled but narrowed her eyes at him, she knew, but she wouldn’t say anything unless he did.

“I can’t believe you didn’t serenade him.” Jade said with a sarcastic smile.

John laughed. “By the way man, we got you some clothes while we were shopping because we thought you would probably spend all your units on your date.” He said, handing him a shopping bag.

“Oh thanks, man.” Dave said, accepting the clothes. “There better not be a fucking clown outfit in here or something.”

“Nope.” Jade smiled. “Genuine clothes.”

“We thought it might improve your scent.” Rose said. “There’s some body wash in there too… Please use it.” She added, a playful grin on her face.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dave said. “I don’t smell that bad.” He laughed a little.

Jade and John laughed and Rose smiled before she walked away.

“I guess we should let you have some time with your boyfriend or whatever.” John smiled. “But do you wanna get some training in later?” He asked. “I think Keith is mad that none of us did anything while he was unconscious.”

“Oh yeah.” Dave said. “Sure. I’ll kick your ass, Egbert.” He smiled.

“Cool.” John smiled. “Wanna meet in the training room after lunch?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Dave replied.

John and Jade smiled and walked away. Dave walked back to Karkat’s room. Karkat was laying on his side underneath the blankets and reading a book. It looked like a shitty romance novel and Dave wasn’t sure where he got it from.

“Hey.” Dave smiled. “Waffles, eggs, bacon, and sausage.” He said, holding up the little food carton.

Karkat sat up and shoved his book between the mattress and the frame before accepting the food.

Dave sat down with him. “Why are you hiding your book?” He asked.

Karkat piled some food into his mouth before answering with a shrug. “I don’t want the others to see it and remember to make fun of me for it.” He said. “I think they mostly forgot I was into all that shitty romance stuff.” He added.

Dave nodded and reached over to steal a piece of bacon before getting his hand slapped.

“You had yours, you fucker.” Karkat said.

Dave laughed and pulled his hand away.

* * *

Dave hung out with Karkat most of the morning before they had lunch with everyone else and headed to the training room. They got dressed in their paladin armor and were surprised to see not only Jade, John, and Rose, but also Kankri, Dirk, Jake, Roxy, and Rufioh all in their armor and waiting for them along with Keith who was standing near the control panel for the room.

John waved at Dave, his goofy smile showing through the glass of his helmet. Dave smiled and lightly waved back before he and Karkat took their places, forming a ring with the others.

“So what are we doing?” Dave asked John.

“Don’t know yet.” John said.

Keith typed some things into the panel before looking up, a complex training maze appearing around the ten paladins with the circle they were standing in being a clearing in the middle. There were two other smaller square clearings on either side of the large room. A map of the maze appeared in front of the paladins and they could hear Keith’s voice.

“You’re going to be playing capture the flag today.” Keith said. “Team lion is the red team, and team wolf is the blue team. You all start in the center. You have two minutes to study the map. After that, it will only show you which team has the current flag. Capture as many flags as you can with your team in the next two hours. No weapons are allowed. No jet packs are allowed.” A countdown began above the map, set to two minutes. As soon as it was finished, the map disappeared and a small white circle appeared in the upper left corner of each paladin’s helmet display, indicating that neither team had the flag. Everyone ran in different directions to find the flag, having only a small arrow pointing in the general direction of the flag on their helmets display to guide them.

Dave found the first flag and ran to grab it before being knocked backwards by the boot of Kankri’s armor. Kankri grabbed the flag and ran towards his team’s base.

Dave gave chase but was knocked down again by Roxy who gave him a lopsided peace sign as he ran off to give Kankri protection.

Dave got back up and ran after them, joined by John who nearly slammed into Dave from around a corner. Jake tripped John and Rose knocked Jake down. Dave was hot on Kankri’s tail but Rufioh managed to knock him back and keep him distracted long enough for Kankri to get the flag to his base and win the first round.

The blue flag disappeared and was replaced by a new white flag somewhere else on the map. Everyone darted towards it.

Over the next hour, the blue team, led by Rufioh, won every single round, either outsmarting or outrunning the red team at every turn.

The flag changed from blue to white again but Karkat ran in the opposite direction that he was supposed to and Dave noticed, running after him, assuming he had a plan.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Dave asked, running next to Karkat. “The flag’s behind us.”

“I know.” Karkat said. “No jet packs allowed.” He huffed. “But Keith never said anything about climbing the walls.”

Dave followed Karkat to the east side of the map. There was some debris spread around the map to add an extra challenge and Karkat had seen a particularly large stack of debris early when he was hunting for the flag in the area. He and Dave jumped up onto the the stack of what seemed to be boxes and rocks and Dave helped Karkat to get up onto the wall of the maze before Karkat pulled him up and the two of them scanned the area to see where everyone was heading and where the flag was.

The two of them took off, running along the walls of the maze and managed to get to the flag before the blue team. Karkat grabbed it. “Cover me!” He exclaimed, running back through the maze towards their base. Dave stayed next to him, attempting to knock down any of the blue team members that tried to grab their flag. Jade figured out after a moment that they had the flag and went to cover them too. Soon they were joined by Rose and John, and Karkat was thoroughly protected on each side. They got their flag to their base and Jade jumped in the air with a whoop as a celebration before they looked to the door of their base where Roxy and Dirk were catching their breath.

“Nice job.” Dirk said.

“Only gotta do that like, ten more times or something to beat us.” Roxy grinned before the two of them took off to find the new flag.

Karkat had everyone spread out to climb the walls where they could. Once the flag was seen, the one who found it would signal the others and everyone would run over the other team’s head to grab it. One would carry it and the others would defend them.

This worked for two more flags before the blue team caught on and started climbing the walls and finding long pieces of debris they could stick into the air and trip their opposing team as they jumped between the walls.

At the end of the second hour, the blue team won with fourteen points while the red team ended up with only four. When the maze walls collapsed back into the ground along with all of the debris and the flag, the entirety of the red team let themselves fall onto the floor, exhausted.

The blue team leaned on each other but only Roxy let himself fall and lay down on the ground.

Keith was standing next to the control panel, he let the paladins rest for a couple of minutes before he spoke. “Good job.” He said. “The opposing team won by a landslide but you guys were actually working together and you did a good job. You thought outside the box even when you weren’t able to use your normal advantages and Karkat, you managed to lead your team relatively well. Congratulations.” He paused. “But you definitely need more training.” He added, turning to type some things into the control panel. “Go take a break. We’ll do some more training after dinner.”

The lion paladins all stayed on the ground, motionless for a couple more minutes, just trying to will themselves to move, but after Rose managed to get up everyone else followed.

All of them headed to the kitchen to get some water and a snack, not bothering to change out of their armor first.

“I think my entire body is gonna be sore after that…” John groaned, rubbing his neck.

“At least you aren’t gonna bruise.” Jade said, rubbing her right knee, as Dirk had knocked her off of the wall and into a pile of debris on one of the final rounds.

“I don’t know about that.” John said. “Kankri kicked me pretty hard.” He added, massaging his lower back for a moment.

“I hope we don’t have to train more with those guys.” Jade said, standing up straight and getting herself a glass of water. “They’re way too tough on us.”

Rose shrugged, following to get herself some water. “Probably better for them to be a little rough. It’s more realistic when it comes to what we might face out in the field.” She said.

“Well they could at least give us a grace period.” Karkat grumbled, a welt appearing on his chest from where Roxy had hit him with the bottom of the flag poll when he tried to take it from him.

Dave got himself, Karkat, and John some water before getting into a box of gummy snacks and passing them out. “I think Kankri is just mean.” He said. “I’m pretty sure he was trying to kill me. He hit me and I didn’t even have the flag. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t even close to it.”

Rose smiled. “He does seem to like beating people up.” She said, eating a gummy.

The paladins were quiet as they devoured more gummies than they needed. After a little while, Roxy walked into the room and pointed finger guns at them.

“What’s up?” He asked happily, getting into the fridge for water and an apple.

“Just trying to heal up a little since you guys kicked the shit out of us.” Dave said.

Roxy grinned. “Yeah, we really gotta toughen you up.” He laughed a little. “No hard feelings though?” He asked.

“Not from me but I think Karkat’s a little salty about it.” Dave said.

“Maybe don’t hit me as hard next time.” Karkat grumped.

Roxy shrugged. “The enemy is gonna hit you a lot harder than I will.” He said. “You might wanna get used to it.”

Karkat didn’t say anything but Dave could tell he was grumpy so he put his arm around him for comfort.

“So do you know what Keith is going to have us doing after dinner?” John asked.

“Nope.” Roxy smiled. “No clue. But I bet it involves us kicking your asses again.” He winked and John found himself blushing a little. He hoped no one noticed.

“Well I hope it’s something easy.” Jade said. “I miss when we just had to share mental connections or whatever. That didn’t hurt as much.”

“Eventually you’ll get buff and it won’t bother you as much.” Roxy said playfully. “Anyway, does anyone wanna go shopping because I still have about five hundred units that I need to spend.”

“I’m good.” Dave said. “They bought me clothes and shower stuff so I don’t really need anything unless there’s alien weed vendors at the mall. Karkat could use an extra pair of clothes though.”

“I would love to go shopping.” Rose smiled. “Me and Kanaya were going to check out the craft stores today if you want to come with us.”

“Awesome.” Roxy smiled. “I’m in.”

“Well I’ll go with you!” Jade grinned. “I barely spent anything yesterday!”

“Count me in, too.” John smiled before looking at Karkat. “You coming with?” He asked.

“Why would I want to go shopping with you?” Karkat asked.

“Because you’re going to start smelling if you don’t change your clothes.” John said playfully.

“Whatever.” Karkat said before looking up at Dave. “Are you going?” He asked.

“I’d rather take a nap or chill out in the game room or something but if you want me to come with you I will.” Dave said.

“It’s up to you.” Karkat said with a shrug but Dave could tell he didn’t want to hang out with the others without him.

“Yeah, I’ll go.” Dave said.

Karkat nodded and they all crammed some more gummies into their pockets before they headed out.

Dave helped Karkat pick out a couple new t-shirts, a few more pairs of sweatpants, a new sweater, a pack of socks, and a pack of underwear before they walked around with the others, listening to them talk but not being too interested in the things they were looking at. Kanaya and Rose checked out the craft stores and bookstores, Roxy happily trailed along wherever everyone else wanted to go, and Jade was interested in the gardening and flower shops.

After they were done, they headed back to the ship and Karkat put his new clothes away before dinner.

Lance and Nepeta made some sort of alternian food. Equius tried to help but mostly just broke measuring cups accidentally. The food didn’t taste like anything Dave was used to but he didn’t hate it and Karkat seemed to like it.

After they were done eating, all ten of the paladins headed to the training room with Keith. Keith loaded up a scenario on the control panel and let them know they would be working together and would be allowed to use weapons and jetpacks.

“The goal is to fight as long as possible and to protect your teammates.” He had said before starting the training without warning. It wasn’t too difficult to the previous training the paladins had had, but the A.I. was more aggressive and the wolf paladins were doing most of the protecting while the lion paladins were just trying not to get hit.

Jake, Roxy, Kankri, and Jade all used guns through their bayard but Kankri also switched between using a rifle and a scythe, depending on his distance from the A.I. bots. Rufioh tended to use a dagger but would swap to a bow and arrow when he was further away. Dirk was using a ninja sword, similar to the one Dave’s bro had used in their fights. Dave had his broadsword, Karkat had his duel sickles, Rose had her stakes, and John had his warhammer.

Dave was certainly the better fighter of the lion paladins and was able to swap from surviving to protecting rather quickly and it also didn’t take Karkat too long, but Jade wasn’t super good at fighting in close proximity to others, as her weapon of choice was a sniper rifle and she had to adjust to being nearer to her enemies. Rose was good at adapting but John had some practice left to get through before he would be very good.

Keith made them train over and over again until they were exhausted and he finally let them go to bed, letting them know that they would be leaving the tourist planet first thing in the morning.

Dave went to Karkat’s room with him and the two of them disposed of the contents of their bucket before they went to bed, too tired to do or say much of anything.


	14. Chapter 14

Over the next couple of weeks, as Lance and Rolo piloted the castle to Skaia, Keith trained the paladins nearly nonstop. Not a night went by when the paladins of the Voltron lions went to bed without bruises on their bodies.

Sometimes Dave and Karkat would have the energy after training to be intimate with each other, but most of the time, they just went to sleep. They were pretty much sharing a room though now, and whenever they were intimate, they would sneak out at night and dump their genetic material into the freezer in the Black Lion.

The two boys spent almost all of their time together, getting to know each other better and better. Sollux even tried to get to know Dave, though he didn’t try hard and everyone could tell he still didn’t like him. He only tried to get to know him enough so that Karkat would continue to speak to him.

Rolo, Equius, and Dirk had already managed to fix the teludav, but Lance had decided not to use it since Keith wanted more time to train, and a detour to Skaia provided a few weeks to a month's worth of time.

Dave spoke to Dirk a little, though it was mostly things said in passing or during training, as he was still, for the most part, slightly afraid to have a long conversation with him, and was mostly avoiding him.

Rose and Kanaya were spending a lot of time together and Rose was doing well when it came to bonding with her lion, though Dave and Karkat had barely even tried, as it was something Keith allowed them to do outside of training hours, and by the time they were done with training most days, they just wanted to relax and go to bed.

On this particular day, Keith had been training them with their usual capture the flag, though with a bigger, more cramped map, and they were required to hold two flags at a time. The wolf paladins won, as they normally did.

When it was done, Keith allowed them a few minutes to pant on the ground before he spoke.

“I want you all to go to your lions with your wolf counterpart.” He said. “Rose is the only one who’s been actually attempting to bond with her lion and you all need to be doing it. Maybe the wolves can teach you a thing or two.”

“I don’t want to spend time with Kankri though...” Dave groaned, louder then he meant to.

“You should have thought about that before you decided not to even try and bond with the Red Lion.” Keith said. “Now go. Don’t stop trying to bond with your lion until dinner.” He added, feeling a little like a parent punishing their child.

Dave groaned again but did as he was told. Everyone filed out of the training room and headed down the halls to their hangars. Dave kissed Karkat before they went their separate ways.

Kankri always stomped around like he was heading into a fight and it made Dave uneasy. He also didn’t like the fact that Kankri was always way rougher during training than anyone else.

The two of them entered the hangar of the Red Lion and the Orange Wolf and Kankri looked at his wolf before walking over to Dave’s lion and sitting down, cross-legged, in front of it. He waited for Dave to sit next to him before he spoke.

“What have you tried so far?” He asked, almost sounding annoyed already.

Dave shrugged a little. “I talked to him.” He said.

“Her.” Kankri corrected. “If I’m not mistaken, the lions on Earth and of Altea have manes when they’re male. None of your lions have manes.” He said.

Dave looked up at his lion. He had never really noticed before but if altaen lions were really the same as Earth lions, Kankri was right, they were probably all girls. Though he wasn’t sure the lions would actually care. He shrugged again. “Well I’ve talked to her.” He said.

“Is that it?” Kankri asked.

“Yeah…” Dave said. “Am I supposed to do something else?”

“You’re supposed to bond with her.” Kankri said.

“Yeah.” Dave said. “How else would I bond with her?”

“Through mental connection.” Kankri said, as if it should have been obvious. “Keith has mentioned before that he’s had you and the other lion paladins connect through a psychic link. Why do you think he did that?” He asked.

“To get us to stop hiding things from each other.” Dave said, though it sounded a little like a question.

Kankri blew out an irritated breath. “No.” He said. “It was to prepare you to bond with your lion.”

“Okay…” Dave said. “How am I supposed to psychically connect with a giant robot cat?” He asked. “Do I need to go grab those psychic connection crowns?”

“No.” Kankri said. “You do it through meditation and actively reaching out with your mind.”

“I’m not a forty-year-old vegan mother. I don’t know how to meditate.” Dave said.

Kankri let out a sound that was close to being a growl but was more of a throaty groan. He stood up and gestured for Dave to follow him into the mouth of his lion.

Dave followed him into the cockpit and sat down in his chair while Kankri stood behind him.

“Close your eyes.” Kankri said, though it was closer to a demand.

Dave hesitated. “I hate it when people say that to me.” He said. “Listening to people who say that is how you get suckerpunched.”

“Close your eyes or I’ll suckerpunch you anyway.” Kankri said.

Dave sighed and closed his eyes. “What am I supposed to do now?” He asked.

“Reach out to your lion.” Kankri informed.

Dave sat still for about a minute. He really was trying to reach out, but he kept on getting distracted by other thoughts until he finally gave up and opened his eyes. “Yeah, I’m not getting anything.” He said.

“Well try harder.” Kankri demanded. “A child could do this.”

“Whatever.” Dave said, closing his eyes again. He thought about just pretending to reach out and going to sleep. Kankri might buy it unless he started snoring, but he decided that since he probably wasn’t going to put the effort in during his off hours, he might as well keep trying during training hours. He let out a breath, trying to force his thoughts to clear out as he attempted to connect with the Red Lion.

It took over an hour of failure and Kankri demanding more of him before he was finally able to feel something. It wasn’t much but it was something. Another hour and he could swear that he heard his lion speaking to him in a strange language that he couldn’t understand, though somehow he still knew what his lion was trying to say. He saw images in his mind of the lion’s past. He saw the paladins that came before him and the things they did together. He saw their bond with each other and he saw how strong they were when they worked together. He saw Keith and Lance, they were younger in his visions but only by about ten to fifteen years younger. He saw the year that the lions sat in peace after the war, simply protecting their paladins, and then he saw them leave when it was time to take on their new hiding spots. Though there was one thing he wasn’t expecting to see, which was Jade, though not the Jade he knew. She was pale as a ghost, with the ears and tail of an animal. Dave didn’t see or hear her say anything but he knew she was speaking to the lions all those years ago. And then he saw something that shocked him even more. He saw himself and he saw Rose.

Rose looked weak and he looked like someone had beaten him badly, but they stood on either side of Jade. After a few moments of watching them, Jade, Rose, and Dave himself, looked directly at the eyes of the Red Lion. Jade smiled softly, and suddenly Dave was hurled back to reality, feeling like he was going to throw up. He heaved forward, a massive headache suddenly coming on.

“Jesus Christ…” He said.

“What?” Kankri asked.

“Does connecting normally make people feel like they’re dying?” Dave asked.

“No.” Kankri said. “But sometimes, if you aren’t used to it, it can take a physical toll on you. I was ill for an entire day after I connected with my wolf.” He informed.

“I feel like I’m gonna puke.” Dave said.

“You should have been trying to connect sooner.” Kankri nearly scolded. “If you had, you probably would have been used to it in small amounts before taking on a full connection and you wouldn’t be having this issue.”

Dave groaned before he sat back up straight. “Can we take a break?” He asked.

“Not until dinner.” Kankri said shortly.

Dave hesitated, not wanting to confide in Kankri of all people about what he saw. “Does Voltron… Make you see things that aren’t real?” He asked cautiously.

“No.” Kankri said. “If you saw something through a lion’s eyes, they experienced it.”

Dave was quiet for about a minute as he thought before Kankri let out an annoyed sigh.

“What did you see?” Kankri asked.

“Nothing…” Dave said. “I didn’t see anything.”

“That’s a lie. What did you see?” Kankri very nearly demanded.

Dave hesitated again but after a moment he decided to tell him, mostly to avoid more training until dinner, and partly because he hoped he would have an explanation for him about what he saw. “I saw…” He paused. “I saw some shit that isn’t possible because this had to be like, two-thousand years ago, but… I saw myself. Me, and Rose, and Jade. But Jade was different.”

“Ears and tails of an animal and pale white skin?” Kankri asked.

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Dave asked.

“I’ve seen her that way before. In my own universe.” Kankri said. “I didn’t know it was her until I spoke with her when I got here.”

“So, what?” Dave asked, confused. “She was reincarnated or something?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Kankri said. “I think that version of her is from the future.”

“No, because I saw her in the past.” Dave said.

“She could have figured out how to time travel. It’s not unheard of.” Kankri countered.

“It is on my planet…” Dave said.

Kankri shrugged a little. “Then how would you explain yourself and Rose accompanying her?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Dave said. “But I don’t think it’s time travel. That’s like, sci-fi shit.”

Kankri raised an eyebrow. “It’s not that far fetched…” He said. “What were you three doing when your lion saw you?”

“We were just standing there.” Dave said. “All of the lions were gathered and I think Jade was talking to them, or maybe just to her’s… I couldn’t hear her. But then all three of us looked at Red and then I came back here.”

Kankri thought for a moment.

“When did you see her?” Dave asked. “That version of her?”

“When I first became a paladin.” Kankri said. “She came to me when I was in the empresses prison for trying to lead a rebellion. I couldn’t actually see her face because she was wearing a hood but her voice was identical to Jade’s and now that you’ve seen her too, I think I can say for certain that they are the same.” He paused. “She granted me some abilities before she helped me escape from prison. She told me she was an Earth deity though and I’m beginning to think she was lying about that.”

“Yeah, Jade isn’t a god. She probably just said that to mess with you or something, I don't know.” Dave said. “What powers did she give you? How did she give you powers?”

“Just the ability to connect with my alternate self. Karkat’s ancestor.” Kankri said. “She gave me my abilities by touching my forehead and then she killed me. I woke up with a connection to my alternate self, and after that, no matter what happened to me, I couldn’t seem to die.”

Dave was quiet for a moment. “That’s a lot to take in.” He said.

Kankri let out a breath. “I believe she is trying to help us.” He said. “I think she knows we’ll fail and she’s trying to correct that.”

Dave sat for a moment before he shook his head and stood up to walk out of the cockpit.

“Where are you going?” Kankri asked. “We aren’t done training.”

“I’m going to get some fucking apple juice.” Dave said. “I’m done training. I don’t want to have any more ominous visions of the future-past. Okay?” He didn’t give Kankri time to answer before he walked out of the Red Lion and towards the kitchen.

* * *

Dave walked into the kitchen where Lance, Nepeta, Sollux, Eridan, and Feferi were preparing dinner. He didn’t bother to say hello to them and instead walked over to the fridge to get himself some apple juice, though he was getting worried that they would run out soon.

“Aren’t you supposed to be training?” Sollux asked, annoyed.

“I bonded with Red already. I don’t need to train anymore today.” Dave said.

“Oh congratulations.” Lance smiled. “Red can be pretty hard to bond with.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dave said, not wanting to talk about it. “So what’s for dinner?” He asked.

“Apparently some classic alternian meals.” Lance shrugged a little. “I’m not actually too sure what most of it is but I think one of the things we made is pretty close to Earth pasta.” He smiled.

“Cool.” Dave said. “Got an ETA on when it’s gonna be done?” He asked.

“Shouldn’t be too long.” Nepeta smiled. “Most of it’s just keeping warm while we finish up.”

“Cool.” Dave said before a beat of silence. “Hey, Lance?” He asked.

“Yeah?” Lance asked.

“Do you think you could ask Keith to cool it on the training?” Dave asked. “I’m pretty sure if we end up getting into a fight I’m going to be too fucking sore to actually do anything at this point.”

“I can ask but don’t get your hopes up.” Lance said. “I know he wants you to be ready.”

“Yeah but there’s such a thing as too much.” Dave said. “Moderation is key, you know? Karkat’s doing good on the whole leading thing and the rest of us are getting better with fighting and all that crap but if he wants us to be bonded as a team he’s going to have to actually give us time to bond with each other.”

“Yeah…” Lance sighed. “He’s definitely better with the fighting than the bonding. Always has been.” He said.

Dave nodded a little. “Yeah I saw some stuff through Red’s eyes.” He said. “So Keith has always been a hard-ass?”

Lance smiled. “I wouldn’t say he’s a hard-ass.” He said. “But he gets frustrated easily when things don’t go right.” He added as a timer beeped on the stove and Feferi went to grab the food while Eridan stood next to the stove and didn’t do anything to help, as he was moreso there to be in-between Feferi and Sollux.

Lance walked over to the door and pressed a com button next to it to put out a shipwide message. “Hey guys, dinner’s ready.” He said before returning to the food to put everything on a cart and move it to the dining room.

Dave grabbed another apple juice and followed the others before helping them put everything out and sitting down in his normal seat. He was starting to get sick of non-Earth foods but it wasn’t terrible.

Karkat joined them soon after and plopped down next to Dave. “You manage to bond with Red?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Dave said. “What about you? Any luck?”

“Yeah, Rufioh is pretty good at helping me with it.” Karkat said.

Dave nodded. “Did you like, see anything? Like see through your lions eyes or something?” He asked.

“Not really.” Karkat said. “I mean, I could see the hangar through his eyes when we were bonding but I didn’t see anything else. Why? Did you see something?” He asked.

Dave hesitated, not wanting to sound insane. “Yeah I just saw some of the past paladins doing things.” He said.

Karkat shrugged a little. “Maybe I’ll see stuff later.” He said as people began to pile into the room.

Dave thought that maybe he should tell Keith or Lance what he saw but he figured that Kankri would have told them already if he thought it was important and so he didn’t. He just ate his dinner before Keith had all of the paladins do another round of capture the flag.

When training was finally over, Dave and Karkat were the first to leave for their room, and after all of the paladins had left the training room, Keith spent an hour and a half training on his own before heading to the room that he and Lance now shared.

“Hey.” Lance smiled at him from the bed as he had been about to go to sleep.

“Hey.” Keith said, walking over to their dresser to get some clothes before heading to their bathroom to shower. He came back out in sweatpants and a t-shirt as well as hair that was sticking out in places from being dried with a towel.

Lance smiled at his messy hair and scooted over a little so he could lay down and he did.

“How was your day?” Keith asked, getting under the covers.

“It was okay.” Lance said. “Hung out with Rolo for a bit, studied some more cultural stuff, read a book.” He paused. “How was yours?”

Keith shrugged. “Trained.” He said, as he had said every night for the last two weeks. “Thought you didn’t like reading so much.” He added, as most of Lance’s time lately was spent with the consumption of knowledge.

Lance shrugged and slid down to lay next to Keith. “I started reading about a thousand years ago.” He said. “If I’m going to live such a long time, I might as well learn some new stuff.”

Keith nodded. “Yeah I guess.” He said, rolling over to sleep.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance asked.

“Hmm?” Keith asked.

“Do you think you could spend some more time out of the training room?” Lance asked, causing Keith to roll onto his other side to look at him. “It’s just that I never see you. And you’ve been training pretty hard so… Maybe you could give the paladins a break? Or you could just lock them in a room together and make them bond as a team outside of training while me and you hang out.” He smiled.

Keith smiled a little. “They need to be ready but… I guess I could give them something to do where I don’t need to hover over them so much.” He said.

“Cool.” Lance said, kissing his boyfriend. “Because I waited like, two-thousand years to be with you and I’d like to spend some actual time with you now that we’re together.”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, me too.” He said.

Lance kissed him again and after a few minutes of kissing, he ran a hand up his shirt and Keith pulled away with red cheeks.

“Um…” Keith started. “Are you… Are you trying to make out or… More?” He asked, a little nervously.

“Preferably more but if you don’t want to that’s fine.” Lance smiled.

“It’s not that, I just… I never have…” Keith said.

“Wait you’ve never had sex?” Lance asked. “In two thousand years? You never did it?” He asked, perplexed.

Keith shook his head. “I was never with anyone. I never dated. I was just sort of waiting for you…” He said, his cheeks a deep shade of red.

Lance smiled and kissed him. “Well if you’re in the mood, we can totally do it now.” He said.

Keith smiled and kissed his boyfriend. “Okay.” He said. “But, sorry in advance if I’m not good at it or something.” He added. “I’m guessing you’ve been with a lot of people in the past two-thousand years and I’m probably not up to your standards.”

Lance shrugged a little. “I guess I’ll have to teach you a thing or two.” He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows a little before he kissed him again.

* * *

The next day, Keith gathered all of the paladins in the training room, looking more relaxed than he had in the whole time that the paladins had known him. “Okay.” He started. “We’re only going to do an hour of training today and then I want you all to go have some fun together.” He said. “Go hang out in the gaming room or the swimming pool or something. Just do it together. Make sure to spend some quality time getting to know each other. Then tomorrow we’ll do a day of training and start switching off every other day since you’re getting better and you probably don’t need too many more involuntary training hours.” He walked over to the control panel and began their hour of training which turned into an hour and forty minutes before he let them go.

Dave and Karkat immediately tried to go to their bedroom but John managed to stop them.

“Hey, wanna go play some Tony Hawk or something?” John asked Dave.

“Uh, I mean sure but can we do that later?” Dave asked. “I was gonna hang out with Karkat for a bit first.” He said, hoping John would pick up on the fact that he and Karkat wanted some intimate alone time.

“But you two have been hanging out nonstop.” John said. “I’ve barely seen you outside of training. And Keith said we all need to hang out together.” He added as Jade walked over with Jake.

“Yeah well I’ll join you guys in a bit.” Dave said, still trying to hint with his eyes at why he wanted to leave with Karkat.

“Come on, Dave.” Jade said. “You can kink it up later.”

Dave’s face went red. “Who said we were into anything kinky?” He asked with a bit of a nervous voice break as Roxy and Dirk walked over.

“Who’s into what kink?” Roxy asked playfully.

“No one!” Dave let out, louder then he meant to. “There’s no kink!” He exclaimed before quickly turning around and heading for his room with Karkat following.

Rose walked over with Kankri and Rufioh as John sighed.

“Guess we’ll see him later.” John said, a bit sad before he turned to the others and smiled. “Anybody wanna go play games?” He asked.

“I’m in.” Roxy smiled and Dirk shrugged. Everyone else either nodded or didn’t say anything and so John headed for the games room and plopped down on the couch, turning on the console they had and searching the database for some games to play as Roxy sat down next to him and Rufioh sat down next to Roxy.

“Not enough chairs in here.” Kankri said, leaning against the wall as Rose, Jake, Jade, and Dirk brought over four of the six chairs from the table.

“There’s more chairs, you know?” Dirk said.

“Uncomfortable.” Kankri said.

John shrugged. “There’s a footstool over by the foosball table.” He offered. "It's more comfy with a cushion and stuff."

Kankri sighed and walked over to get the footstool, placing it next to Dirk on the left of the couch before sitting down, looking unhappy as always.

“So what games you got on this thing?” Dirk asked.

John shrugged again. “Pretty much any games you wanna play, I think.” He said. “It’s hooked up to some universal piracy network or something.”

“Cool.” Dirk said, picking up a controller.

“You like Tony Hawk?” John asked.

“Sure.” Dirk said.

John exited out of the piracy database and opened up the list of games he had already downloaded, starting one of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games.

John and Dirk played the game for a while before Roxy jumped in and took Dirk’s place and Dirk swapped places with Rufioh on the couch so that Roxy could see better without his horns in the way.

“Is this really how you spend your recreational time?” Kankri asked with a bit of annoyance.

“Most the time.” John said. “How do you relax?” He asked.

“I take walks, read books, or I sit in silence and contemplate my existence.” Kankri replied.

Dirk sighed. “He’s not fun.” He said.

“Reading is fun.” Jade smiled, looking at Kankri. “What kind of stuff do you like to read?” She asked.

“Academic papers, mostly.” Kankri said.

“Oh.” Jade said with a shrug. “I like fiction but sometimes I read about science and stuff.”

Kankri sighed. “Fiction is a waste of time.” He said.

“For some people.” Rose chimed in.

A few minutes of silence went by before John spoke up again. “So are you guys all really good friends?” He asked, tapping out of the game and handing his controller to Rose.

“We’re close but I wouldn’t say we’re friends.” Kankri said.

“Don’t be a dick.” Roxy said. “You know we’re friends.” He added with a smile.

Kankri shrugged a little. “All my friends are dead.” He said.

“Not all of them, drama king.” Dirk sighed.

Kankri let out an irritated breath and stood up. “I’m going to the library.” He said.

“Nope.” Dirk said and grabbed Kankri’s sweater as he tried to walk in front of him to leave. “Our allocated bonding time isn’t over yet.”

Kankri slapped his hand away from his sweater with force before huffing out a breath and sitting back down, crossing his arms.

Roxy paused the game and offered the controller to Kankri. “Loosen up, Insufferable.” He said.

“No.” Kankri replied simply.

Roxy sighed and shook his head before resuming the game.

“Why are you so mad?” Jade asked.

“I’m not mad.” Kankri said.

“Yeah you haven’t seen him angry yet.” Rufioh said.

“Really?” John asked.

“Yeah.” Roxy said. “The dude goes apeshit when he’s pissed off. This is just cranky.”

“Wow…” Jade said and Kankri just grumbled quietly to himself.

About an hour passed before Dave and Karkat showed up and grabbed the last two chairs, pulling them over to sit with the others.

Jade had been playing the game with Roxy for a while and handed the controller to Dave, knowing he would want to play.

Dave took the controller and glanced at the others. “So what’s up?” He asked. “What’d we miss?”

“Not a lot.” Rose said.

“Cool.” Dave said.

“How was the alien loving?” John teased, as he and Jade had still been attempting to embarrass Dave and Karkat over the last couple of weeks.

Dave’s cheeks went red.

“None of your business, Egbert.” Karkat grumped and John laughed as Roxy handed him his controller.

There was a silence among them and Kankri groaned and looked at Dirk. “I’m going to the library.” He repeated before standing up and walking out of the room, though Dirk didn’t try to stop him this time.

“How did you guys manage to be friends with that massive douchebag?” Karkat asked after Kankri left.

Dirk shrugged. “He wasn’t always cranky or whatever.” He said. “I mean, he was always annoying as hell but the cranky thing is still pretty new.”

“Why is he like that?” John asked.

“He watched some of our friends die.” Rufioh said with a frown. “That’ll change a person. You know? I think he’s just coping.”

“People fucking die on Alternia all the time.” Karkat said, dismissing it. “I’ve seen people die. Who cares?”

“You ever see someone you love die though?” Dirk asked. “It’s not fucking easy.” He added, thinking of his father version of Dave.

“Whatever.” Karkat said. “I think he’s being fucking dramatic.”

“I think maybe your Alternia was different than ours.” Rufioh said. “I mean, I know it was different because Kankri was able to see it before we got here but, I think you were brought up tougher, you know? Our Alternia wasn’t as rough as yours.”

“Right.” Karkat said. “Kankri said something about culling even having a different meaning there.”

“Yeah.” Rufioh said. “People on our Alternia were a bit softer than on yours.”

“Well then how the hell did your empress end up all evil and shit?” Karkat asked.

Rufioh shrugged a little. “People said she went insane.” He said. “I mean, she was always… Overbearing… But one day she just snapped. She built and trained an army and started subjugating everyone she could until the whole of the known universe was her’s.” He explained. “But that was thousands of years ago and no one really knows what started it. Some people think it was because someone she loved was killed or that she went mad from living so long but, like I said, no one really knows.”

“Well ours was shitty from the start.” Karkat sighed.

Rufioh nodded. “Yeah. Kankri told us about your alternian history.” He said.

“Oh yeah… He has some sort of link to my ancestor, doesn’t he?” Karkat asked, though he barely cared.

“Yeah.” Rufioh said. “He spends a lot of time living through your ancestor’s memories. Or at least, he used to. He doesn’t talk about him much anymore so I don’t know if he still has a connection to him at all.”

“I think he does.” Dave said. “He said something about it yesterday.”

Rufioh shrugged and Dirk let out a breath.

“Whatever.” Dirk said. “It’s not like his connection helps us anymore.”

“You never know.” Jake chimed in. “It might still come in handy.”

“What did you use it for previously?” Rose asked.

“Mostly to figure out about your version of Alternia and the general state of the alternian empire as a sort of prep before we came here.” Rufioh said.

“I thought you got shoved here by the empress.” Dave said. “How did you even know to prepare for it?”

“Well there was a girl in our universe named Allura,” Jake said. “She helped train us and she warned us that if we would more than likely end up here. Not sure how she knew but she was very powerful with altean magic and science so I’m sure she had her ways.”

“Yeah I think she was here too.” Dave said, remembering the visions of the past he had seen through the Red Lion’s eyes. “I think she was one of the paladins before us.” He paused. "I'm actually pretty sure they have a thing about her in our history books but I don't really remember honestly."

“Well she was a paladin in our universe.” Jake said. “Not sure she knew your other past paladins though. She told us that she and her father led the paladins against the galra long ago and when they won, they helped usher in an era of peace.”

“The history books of our universe tell of a similar past.” Rose said. “In our universe though, the altean king sent the lions away rather than fighting, and the galra took over a large portion of the known universe.”

“I suppose that’s where our histories differ.” Jake said.

“Doesn’t really explain why everyone is in the wrong order though.” Dave said. “Like why you were Jade’s grandpa here and why she was your grandma there.”

Jake shrugged. “Who knows.” He said. “I’ll bet you would drive yourself insane if you tried to make sense of everything in all the universes.”

“Probably right.” Karkat said.

There was a moment of silence before Dirk stood up. “Anyone else up to go drinking?” He asked. “I’m in the mood to get smashed.”

“Nope.” Roxy said.

“Well I know you aren’t.” Dirk said, knowing Roxy had quit drinking a while back.

“I’ll pass.” Jake said. “It’s a bit early for me.”

“Yeah, it’s not even lunchtime yet.” Rufioh said, semi concerned.

Dirk shrugged. “Time is meaningless.” He said, looking at the lion paladins.

“I don’t drink.” Jade said.

“I’ve given it up.” Rose added.

“Too early.” John said.

“No thanks.” Dave said.

Karkat just grumbled something that sounded like a ‘no.’

“Guess I’m drinking alone.” Dirk said, walking out of the room.

Karkat glanced at the door after Dirk left before looking at Dave. “You should go hang out with him.” He said.

Dave hesitated, not wanting to get into it in front of everyone else. “I’m not a day drinker.” He said.

“I don’t mean you should drink.” Karkat said. “I just mean you should go talk to him since you’ve been avoiding him for two weeks.”

Dave let out a breath and didn’t say anything for about a minute before he shrugged. “Maybe later.” He said.

Karkat looked at him for a moment before looking back to the game. “Okay.” He said.

* * *

The paladins spent a couple more hours hanging out. Rufioh and Jade played foosball against Jake and Roxy while Dave and John played video games, and Rose convinced Karkat to play a couple of rounds of pool with her.

Eventually everyone separated out and Dave walked with Karkat for a while before Karkat spoke up.

“Sorry if I upset you earlier by saying you should go hang out with Dirk.” He said genuinely. “I know you have issues with him. I just thought that maybe you might want to clear the air or something.”

Dave shrugged a little. “You didn’t upset me.” He said. “I just don’t know if I’m ready to talk to him yet.”

“Okay.” Karkat said. “Maybe getting drunk with him would make it easier though.”

“Maybe.” Dave said, walking in silence for a few more minutes before he shrugged again. “Do you think I should go find him?” He asked. “Like, get it all out in the open while he’s drunk?”

“If you want to.” Karkat said. “If you aren’t comfortable with it, don’t do it. But if you want to talk to him, go for it.”

Dave thought for a minute before he nodded. “Yeah I think I’ll go find him.” He said. “I mean, maybe I won’t talk to him but I think maybe I’ll go find him. See how drunk he is before I say anything. I mean, I don’t even know what to say to him honestly. He already knows I hated my bro version of him but maybe I can just vent or something.”

“Okay.” Karkat said. “See you at dinner?” He asked.

“If I don’t get drunk.” Dave said with a bit of a smile before kissing his boyfriend and walking in the direction of the kitchen assuming that’s where Dirk might be drinking.

He wondered what he might say the whole time he was walking but all of his thoughts about it evaporated the moment he turned into the kitchen and saw Dirk and John.

John was against the fridge, a panicked look on his face and his hands up in the air a little in shock as Dirk had a fist full of his shirt and was kissing him, shoving his tongue into his mouth and John’s body into the fridge.

“What the fuck?” Dave exclaimed and Dirk swayed away from John, clearly a little drunk.

“What?” Dirk asked.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Dave asked, a hint of jealousy rising inside of him.

“Trying to get some, what are you doing?” Dirk asked and John quietly slid away from him.

“I’m not gay.” John said, flustered as he stood next to Dave

“Oh.” Dirk said. “Guess I shouldn’t have assumed it.” He shrugged.

“Why would you assume I’m gay?” John asked. “Do I look gay?” He asked.

Dirk shrugged. “I sort of assume everyone is gay.” He said, picking up a half empty bottle of alcohol that he had been drinking.

“You shouldn’t!” John squeaked. “I’m not gay!

“Yeah sure.” Dirk said, unconvinced as he leaned against the counter.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” Dave asked, irritated.

Dirk shrugged. “Yeah I guess.” He said. “Never stopped me before.”

“Well fuck off, John’s not fucking interested.” Dave said. “Try Eridan.”

“Already been there, dude.” Dirk said. “I don’t really want to go back to either of the purple tentacle dicks. Neither of them are as good as they think they are.” He shrugged. “At least Cronus wasn’t a clingy bastard though. I’m still trying to shake Eridan and I thought I made it pretty fucking clear I didn’t want anything outside of his bulge but that doesn’t seem to matter.” He rambled.

“Don’t really care.” Dave said. “Find someone else.”

Dirk shrugged his eyebrows. “What are you in love with John or something?” He asked, causing Dave’s cheeks to go red. “‘Cause I thought you were dating the pissy one.”

“I am dating Karkat.” Dave said. “I just don’t want you shoving your tongue down my best friend’s throat without his consent.”

“I’m not going to.” Dirk said. “If he’s not into it, he’s not into it. Just thought he might me into guys ‘cause of how he’s been hitting on Roxy.”

Dave looked at John whose cheeks were pink.

“I wasn’t hitting on him.” John said.

“He said he thought you were.” Dirk shrugged. “But I mean, you better be into guys if you’re going for him ‘cause if you’re trying to act like he doesn’t count as a guy I’ll beat the shit out of you.” He said, taking another drink.

“I…” John started, cheeks red. “I’m not gay and I wasn’t hitting on him.” He said with a nervous break of his voice before he left the room.

Dirk watched him leave before shrugging again and holding the bottle out to Dave, offering him a drink.

Dave didn’t say anything, he just went after John, catching up to him in the hallway. “Hey, you good?” He asked.

“I’m fine. That was just weird and I kind of wish people would stop kissing me.” John said honestly.

Dave was quiet for a moment. “So… Do you like Roxy?” He asked.

“I’m not gay, Dave.” John said.

“You could be though.” Dave said. “There’s nothing wrong with it.” He added but paused. “I mean, I had some fucked up feelings about it before but now that I’ve accepted it I can be like, yeah, nothing wrong with being gay.”

“I’m just not gay, dude.” John said. “I’m not…” He paused. “I’m not anything.”

Dave lowered his eyebrows. “What do you mean.”

John was quiet for a minute. “Nothing.” He said. “I’m just not gay.”

“Come on, dude.” Dave said. “If I can come out to you, you can tell me the truth. You know?”

“There’s nothing to tell, Dave.” John sighed. “Can we drop it?” He asked.

“Yeah okay...” Dave said after a moment. “Sure…”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Suicide attempt. (Non-graphic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Sorry if this chapter isn't super great and sorry about the delay in uploads. I've been in a sort of depressive writing block funk lately. I'm hoping to get out of it soon and write the next few chapters. The next chapter is already semi written but I have to finish it so hopefully I'll get that one out soon, but there might be some pretty big gaps in updates for a while. As if that's anything new, haha. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy and I appreciate all of you who read my stuff. ^u^

The next day, Keith trained the paladins, but he went easier on them and gave them more breaks before informing them at dinner that Lance was going to use the teludav to get to Skaia and to prepare for a jump after dinner.

After they got to Skaia, they took the carapacians to their home and the carapacians gave them some supplies and a large machine to thank them before they left.

Equius and Meenah helped haul the machine into the cargo bay but no one knew what it was, only that it was culturally significant on Skaia.

The next day Keith had the paladins train for an hour before allowing them to leave and bond with each other, though John didn’t go with them, as he was still feeling uncomfortable after the kiss with Dirk but Dirk seemed to be completely over it and didn’t mention it at all.

After about an hour, Dirk left to go drink again and Dave decided to go with him, mostly to make sure he didn’t try to get with John again, not trusting him at his word that he wouldn’t.

The two of them drank for a few hours though Dirk seemed to have a high tolerance and Dave didn’t drink a lot. After they drank, they headed for the kitchen and Dirk made out with Eridan for a while while Dave ate pizza and drank apple juice.

“Alright.” Dirk said to Eridan, after about a half an hour. “I’m done with you. Go away.”

“But, I thought maybe we could-” Eridan started but was cut off.

“No.” Dirk said. “Go away.”

Eridan stared at him for a moment before leaving and Dirk leaned against the counter and grabbed a piece of pizza.

“Make your own, dude.” Dave said, though he didn’t take Dirk’s pizza slice away.

Dirk ate his pizza before leaving the last slice for Dave. “So, wanna go check out that machine and see what it does?” He asked.

Dave shrugged, feeling a little loose due to the alcohol. “Sure.” He said, and the two of them walked down to the cargo bay and up to the machine, looking at it for a moment. It was big and had three tall chamber-like attachments and one dial with four settings as well as one button. The chambers were large enough for a person but there were no instructions to go with the machine.

“What do you think it is?” Dirk asked.

“No clue.” Dave said.

Dirk looked at it for another moment before he shrugged and walked into one of the side chambers. “Hit the button.” He said.

“You sure?” Dave asked.

“Yeah.” Dirk said. “I wanna know what it does.”

Dave shrugged and hit the button. All of the chamber doors closed and stayed closed for about five minutes before they opened and the one in the middle had an exact replica of Dirk in it.

“What happened?” Both Dirk’s asked in unison. “Did it do anything?”

Dave stared at them for a moment. “I think it’s a cloning machine…” He said, a little weirded out.

Both Dirk’s stepped out and looked at each other for a moment before looking at Dave. “I think you might be right.” They said, both swaying a little.

“What do the other dials do?” Dave asked.

Both Dirk’s looked at each other before looking at the machine and shrugging. The second Dirk walked over and stood inside the chamber the first Dirk had been in.

“Hit the button.” He said.

Dave turned the dial to the next setting and hit the button. All of the chambers closed but only for about twenty seconds before they opened. Nothing had changed.

The second Dirk walked out and looked at the other chambers. “Maybe we need to mix something with it?” He asked.

“I got this.” The first Dirk said, leaving the room and coming back about twenty minutes later with a robot that looked similar to himself.

“The fuck is that?” Dave asked.

“It’s my robot.” The second Dirk said.

“Been trying to make him sentient for a while. Maybe this’ll work.” The first Dirk said and the second Dirk got into the left chamber while the first Dirk put the robot into the right chamber before hitting the button.

This time it took about ten minutes and when it opened back up, both the robot and the second Dirk were nothing but dust, though there was a new Dirk in the middle that looked more cyborg-esque.

“Did we just kill clone you?” Dave asked.

“Maybe.” Dirk said as the new Dirk stepped out and looked at himself. “I don’t feel any different.” He said before pausing. “I guess I feel less drunk but nothing else.”

“So…” Dirk walked over and looked at the dial which had four symbols on it. “Circle clones. Square combines.” He said, looking back to Dave. “What do triangle and squiggly line do?”

“One way to find out.” Dave said, gesturing for Dirk to get back in.”

“Nah, I think I’m done.” Dirk said. “You do it.” He said.

Dave shrugged a little and walked over, stepping into the left chamber, not thinking too much about it due to the alcohol in his system.

Dirk turned the dial and hit the button but it opened back up with no changes after twenty seconds.

Dave stepped out and shrugged.

“You got anything to put in it?” Dirk asked.

Dave nodded and left before coming back with an orange taxiderming bird.

“What’s that?” Dirk asked.

Dave shrugged. “Found it in a storage locker last week.” He said. “I think it’s an alien crow or something.” He added, putting it into one side of the chamber before getting into the other one.

Dirk hit the button and gave it a few minutes. It soon opened back up. Dave and the dead bird were the same but there was an orange Dave with wings standing, cramped into the middle chamber.

The two Dave’s walked out and looked at each other.

“Whoa…” Both Dave’s said in unison.

“You look fucking weird.” The first Dave said and the second looked down at himself.

“I’m fucking orange…” He said.

“Orange is a pretty cool color.” Both of the Dirk’s said before looking at each other.

“This is weird.” Dave said. “I don’t think we should try the fourth setting.”

Dirk looked at him and his clone. “But then we’ll never know what it does.” He said. “Clone, combine, clone and combine. What else could it do?”

“I don’t know, man. But I’m not getting back in that thing.” Both Dave’s said.

“I’m not getting back in it.” Both Dirk’s said. “It could kill me again.” The two of them looked at each other before they both smiled, having the same thought. “Maybe we could trick someone else into it.” They said.

“Seems like a dick move.” The second Dave said. “Especially if it could kill them.”

“Meh.” The first Dirk shrugged.

Both of the Dave’s shook their heads. “Well have fun.” The first said. “I’m gonna go find my boyfriend and chill or something.”

“Your boyfriend?” The second Dave asked. “Karkat’s my boyfriend…”

“No he isn’t.” Dave said. “You’re the clone so he’s my boyfriend.”

The second Dave stared at him for a moment, a horrified look in his eyes.

“Have fun sorting that out.” The second Dirk said.

“Yeah.” The first added. “Me and my boy Hal are gonna go find someone gullible.”

The second Dirk looked at the first. “Hal?” He asked.

“Yeah I just named you.” Dirk said and Hal shrugged before the two of them walked away.

Both Dave’s looked at each other.

“So… Should I name you?” The first asked.

“No and fuck you. I’m Dave.” The second replied.

“But I’m Dave. You can’t also be Dave.”

“Too bad. I’m Dave.”

They stared at each other for a second before they both had the same thought and sprinted to find Karkat, thinking he might choose one or the other and wanting to get to him first.

* * *

Karkat was sitting in bed and reading an alternian romance novel when the door to the room opened and Dave burst in, slightly out of breath.

“Hey, no time to explain.” Dave said. “Pick me. I’m the real one.”

“Huh?” Karkat asked as the second Dave ran in, as the first of the two had tripped him on their way to the room. “What the fuck?” Karkat exclaimed.

“Long story.” The second Dave said. “The jist is that the machine we got is a cloning machine.”

“Yeah.” Dave said. “Clone me thinks you’re his boyfriend but tell him to go fuck himself. I was here first.”

Karkat stood up and looked at them both. “I mean… Aren’t I, like, both?” He asked. “Because technically he’s still you and I was dating you so aren’t I dating both of you?”

“No!” Both of the Dave’s said.

“Well… Why not?” Karkat asked. “If you weren’t ready to share me then you shouldn’t have cloned yourself.”

“I’m not sharing my first boyfriend.” Dave said.

“I’m not going to watch someone else date my boyfriend.” The other Dave said at the same time.

“Then you shouldn’t have fucking cloned yourself you fucking idiot.” Karkat said.

“I’m mildly tipsy.” Dave said. “Maybe a little drunk.”

“And it was Dirk’s idea.” The other Dave said.

Karkat groaned. “Well if you aren’t going to play fucking nice than it’s your thing to sort out but I’m guessing original Dave is going to win because technically I was dating him first.” He said.

“See! There!” Dave exclaimed at his clone. “He’s my boyfriend! Get fucked!”

The second Dave stared at Karkat for a moment, heartbroken. “I… But… Karkat, I… I love you…” He said.

Karkat’s cheeks went pink and so did Dave’s.

“Wow way to be not fucking subtle at all.” Dave said. “I thought we agreed to wait at least a month before dropping that shit.”

“Well what do you fucking expect?” The second Dave asked. “You cloned me and now you’re taking the person I love away! I didn’t ask for this!”

“Dude, you’re me. You cloned yourself. Maybe think that shit through a little better next time.” Dave said.

“Dave,” Karkat sighed. “Fucking chill out.” He said. “For now, I’ll date the original Dave until you two can sort this shit out and figure out a good middle ground.”

“Until nothing.” Dave said. “There is no middle ground.”

Karkat shrugged. “If you don’t want to see me with him and he doesn’t want to see me with you we could just schedule it so every other day I’m with each of you.” He suggested. Being in multiple relationships was normal on Alternia and while he didn’t want to be in differing quadrants, he didn’t mind dating someone and a clone of that someone.

“No!” Dave said, though his clone was quiet, just hoping Karkat would talk some sense into Dave so he wouldn’t lose him entirely.

Karkat shook his head. “Well if you can’t work something out then I won’t date either of you until you do.” He idly threatened, hoping it would make his boyfriend more lenient. “It’s a pretty shitty thing to do to bring a clone into the mix and then ditch him.”

“Can we talk about this in private?” Dave asked.

“Dave, he’s you.” Karkat said. “He knows what you know. There’s no point in privacy. He probably already knows what you want to say.”

Dave hesitated. “I don’t want him here.” He said, feeling like an asshole. “Like, I don’t wanna be that guy, but I don’t fucking want him here. I was being an idiot and I shouldn’t have cloned myself and I don’t want him here.”

Karkat was quiet for a moment and the second Dave looked sadder than he had ever seen him before he simply walked out of the room to leave Karkat and himself alone.

“Dave, you’re being a fucking asshole.” Karkat said.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Dave said. “But I already hate myself. I don’t want a whole other me around and I don’t want to share the first boyfriend I’ve ever had with some asshole with feathers.”

Karkat let out a breath and shook his head before he headed for their bathroom. “I’m taking a shower.” He said. “Go fucking think about this shit and figure out what you’re doing about it. Or keep being a fucking asshole and see where that gets you.” He said, slamming the door to the bathroom behind him.

* * *

The second Dave walked down the hallway until he found himself at the airlock. He stared at it for about fifteen minutes before he heard John’s voice to his side.

“Dave?” John asked, perplexed at his appearance.

Dave looked over at him. “I guess so…” He said before looking back to the airlock.

“What happened?” John asked. “Why are you orange? And why do you have wings?”

“Dirk and real Dave cloned me and mixed me with a dead alien bird.” Dave said with sadness in his voice. “But the real Dave doesn’t want me around and Karkat’s going to choose him over me… Everyone is going to choose him over me.”

“I didn’t know we had a cloning machine…” John said, walking over to his friend. “But I don’t think people are going to choose him over you.” He added. “You’re the same person. There’s not really a choice there. It’s just, two Dave’s.”

Dave shook his head. “He’s the real Dave though.” He said.

“Maybe…” John said, and Dave looked at him for a moment.

“Maybe I should just go…” Dave said.

“Go where?” John asked. “Back to Earth?”

“No…” Dave shook his head and hesitated before pointing behind John. “What’s that?” He asked, getting John to turn and look before he opened the airlock and stepped in, closing it before John could stop him.

Dave locked the door and started the sequence to open the airlock from the outside.

“Dave wait!” John exclaimed, trying every code he knew to open the airlock. “Please don’t do this!”

“I’m sorry, John…” Dave said. “It’s better this way. I shouldn’t exist. I’m not the real Dave and this isn’t my life… I love you, John… I’m sorry…”

“No!” John pleaded. “No! You are the real Dave! You both are! Please! You’re my best friend! I love you! Don’t do this!”

Dave hesitated but shook his head. “This isn’t my life, John. I’m only going to get in the way.” He paused, feeling the need to cry. “I don’t want to be alone when everyone decides I’m not good enough. When everyone picks him over me… I don’t want to be alone…” He said, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“You won’t be!” John exclaimed, trying to pry the doors open after codes didn’t work. “I won’t choose him! I’ll stay with you! Even if everyone else leaves you behind! Just please don’t do this! I don’t want you to go!” He begged. “I don’t want to lose you! Either of you! Please!”

Dave let himself cry for a moment as he watched his best friend desperately try to pull the door open while he practically sobbed at the thought of losing him.

“Please, Dave! Open the door! Don’t go!” John pleaded and Dave let out a shaky sob and opened the door. John immediately yanked him out of the airlock and into a tight embrace while they both cried.

“I’m sorry…” Dave sobbed. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay.” John cried. “Just please don’t leave.”

“I won’t. I’m sorry.” Dave held onto him tightly.

* * *

Dirk and Hal wondered around a bit, looking to clone the first person they came across before rounding a corner and seeing Lance and Keith together. “Hey.” They both called over to them in unison.

Lance and Keith looked over at them, both a little shocked to see two of them.

“Found out what that machine does.” Dirk said, gesturing to Hal. “This is Hal. He’s my clone. Dave’s got a clone too but he’s more obvious because he’s fucking orange.”

“Long story short,” Hal started. “We need you two to come down to the cargo bay and take a look at the machine for a quick minute ‘cause we think that maybe there’s something wrong with it and we don’t want it to explode or anything.”

Keith and Lance walked over to them.

“What’s wrong with it?” Keith asked.

“Not sure.” Dirk said. “Was hoping you could come look at it.”

Keith let out a breath but nodded and the two of them followed Dirk and Hal down to the cargo bay. They walked over to the machine and stopped, looking at it closer than they had earlier. Lance looked at the dial before looking at Dirk and Hal.

“Yeah, circle clones, triangle clones and combines, but square just combines.” Dirk shrugged. “Don’t know what the squiggly line does though.”

“You should have checked with us before you screwed around with this.” Keith said, a little angry.

Dirk and Hal both shrugged a little. “Well now we know what it does.” Hal said.

Keith shook his head and looked at the machine. “What did you want us to look at?” He asked, annoyed.

“The side chambers.” Dirk said. “Like, the ceilings of them.”

Keith glanced at Lance and the two of them walked over to the chambers, both of them walking inside and looking up at the tops of them.

“There’s nothing to look at…” Keith said, turning around to get out as the door closed him in.

Hal had hit the button and all the chambers shut and stayed shut, though Keith and Lance both tried to get out for the five minutes the machine was working before the doors opened and they both came out, looking the same.

“What the hell are you trying to do?!” Keith exclaimed, walking over and grabbing Dirk by the shirt.

Lance was about to yell at Dirk but stopped when he heard a baby crying and all four of them turned to look at the third chamber that had a small toddler sitting on the floor and crying.

“Holy shit…” Hal said. “So that’s what squiggly line does…”

Keith and Lance stood and stared at the baby for a moment in stunned silence before Lance came to his senses and walked over, taking off his jacket and wrapping the toddler in it before picking him up, bouncing him a little to still his tears, and looking at Keith. “Did we just have a baby?” He asked, still a little stunned and confused.

Keith stared at him and the child for a second, shocked, before he turned and left the room without saying anything.

Lance watched him leave before looking at Dirk and Hal. “Don’t shove anyone else into that thing!” He scolded before going after Keith and catching up to him in the hall. “Hey… Wait…” He said, still holding the baby.

Keith stopped and turned to look at him, eyeing the baby for a second before looking at his boyfriend.

“Hey, are you okay?” Lance asked.

“I… I’m fine… I think…” Keith said. “I just… I didn’t think we were going to have a baby at all… And definitely not this soon into our relationship…”

“Dad shock.” Lance said. “Been there.”

“What?” Keith asked and Lance’s cheeks went a little pink.

“Long story but about seven hundred years ago I had a daughter with a girl back on Earth but they’re long gone now.” Lance said. 

“I… Sorry, I didn’t know you had a family…” Keith said, surprised that Lance hadn’t told him that.

Lance shrugged a little. “It was a long time ago.” He said. “It was also during a time when you were always busy so we didn’t really talk and then they were gone so it was weird to just bring it up.”

Keith was quiet for a moment, not sure of what to say.

“It’s fine though.” Lance said. “But…” He looked down at the baby before looking back to Keith. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay and stuff. Also we need to make a pitstop somewhere because we don’t have any baby supplies at all.”

“Right…” Keith said, still a little stunned. “I… I’ll tell Rolo to head to the nearest tourist planet, I guess… Maybe they’ll have some Earth stuff for the kid…” He stared at the child who was already asleep in Lance’s arms. He had Lance’s tan skin, Keith’s dark hair and thin eyes, and Lance’s altean markings. “I… I don’t know if I want a baby…” He said honestly.

Lance frowned. “Why?” He asked. “Kids are great. I miss having kids around.”

“I just… I guess it’s too late now but… I didn’t want to have a kid… Any kids… After I lost my father and then I lost Shiro… What if something happens to me and he grows up alone… I don’t want that…”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you.” Lance said. “And yeah, too late now. But you can always force Dirk and Hal to do laps all day every day for a while as a punishment if it helps.”

Keith was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to go tell Rolo we need to change course…” He said before walking away down the corridor. Lance didn’t say anything else but followed, knowing it would be easier to just use the teludav and knowing Keith probably wasn’t thinking well enough to remember the teludav at the moment.

* * *

John took Dave’s clone back to his room and the two of them watched bad movies together on John’s laptop and ate popcorn for a couple of hours before Lance’s voice came over the coms. “Attention, just letting everyone know that we’re heading back to the tourist planet to pick up some things.” He said. “After that, well… We were going to head to the closest Alternian base and take the fight to the Condesce but… There’s a bit of a hiccup in planning so we’re going to have to figure that out… Anyway… Prepare for a teludav jump in about fifteen minutes and if Dirk tells you to get in the machine in the cargo bay for any reason, don’t do it. It’s a cloning machine and we have at least three new people on this ship now that I know of. Just don’t make any more clones… Okay… Jumping in fifteen minutes.” He ended the transmission and John looked at Dave.

“Three new people?” He asked.

“I just know about me and Dirk’s clone, Hal…” Dave said. “But I know he wanted to find out what the last setting on the machine did.”

John nodded a little and looked back to the credits that were rolling on his laptop. He exited out of the media player and opened up his files. “You wanna watch another movie, bud?” He asked.

Dave let out a breath and shook his head, still looking sad. “I think I just want to go to bed…” He said.

“Okay.” John said.

“I guess I don’t have a room though…” Dave said. “Maybe there’s an empty one left though…”

“You can sleep in here tonight if you want.” John said, mostly just not wanting Dave to be alone after what he said and what he tried to do earlier.

Dave hesitated but just nodded. “Do you want me to sleep on the floor?” He asked.

“You can have the bed if you want.” John said.

“I don’t want to kick you out of your bed.” Dave said, moving to get up and go to the floor.

John shrugged. “There’s enough room for both of us.” He said, putting his laptop away and moving to lay down next to the wall.

Dave cautiously moved to lay on his stomach, hating the way his new wings kept him from lying comfortably on his side or his back. He and John had been roommates at the garrison but they had never shared a bed before and Dave didn’t want to make it weird so he tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

After about five minutes of laying in silence, Dave let out a breath. “Hey John?” He started.

“Hmm?” John asked, his voice a little muffled by the pillow, as he was also laying on his stomach with his face in his pillow.

“I’m sorry if I ever made shit awkward between us.” Dave said. “Like, I know you aren’t gay or whatever and there isn’t a future with you and I just wanted to say that I’m going to try and get over you so I don’t make things awkward or anything.”

John was quiet for a moment before he turned his head to look at his best friend. “I… I’m... “ He let out a breath. “I’m not gay…” He said. “But… I’m sorry I rejected you because I care about you and… I shouldn’t have rejected you because…” He stared at him for a moment. “I’m not gay but… I’m not straight either… I’m not bi or anything I just… I don’t…” He paused. “I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t want to be with anyone. Romantically, sexually. I just don’t want it. It’s weird and I used to pretend I did want it because I thought I was supposed to. That’s why I asked Rose out back at the garrison. I thought that maybe if I just forced myself to be with someone, then I would be okay with it eventually…” He paused again. “But I feel bad that I tried to be with Rose but I rejected you and didn’t even try… And I’m sorry… But you don’t have to be sorry for being in love. I’m just sorry I can’t love you back like that…”

Dave stared at him for a moment. “I…” He started. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?” He asked.

John let out a breath and rolled onto his side. “I don’t know…” He said. “When we were kids and back at the garrison, I thought that maybe you would make fun of me, or if people knew I didn’t want a relationship, then people might get weird or try and pressure me into one and I was scared of that… You know?” He sighed. “But I’ve been thinking about it a lot since you and Rose came out and we met all these aliens and it feels like maybe it doesn’t matter anymore… Maybe I can just be me…”

“I’m sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I would be a dick about that.” Dave said. “But yeah, you can be you, dude. I think it’s about fucking time all of us just let ourselves be ourselves.”

John rolled onto his back and let out another nervous breath. “Sorry if I ever made you think I’d be a dick about you being gay…” He said. “But… There’s something else…”

Dave rolled onto his side to look at his best friend better, even though it was uncomfortable with his wings. He waited for a good two minutes for him to continue.

“Do you ever… Do you ever feel like, maybe…” John started. “Maybe you were born wrong?” He asked. “Like, when you look in the mirror?”

“I mean… I think I’m ugly as hell but otherwise I’m not sure what you mean.” Dave said.

John shook his head a little. “I… I mean… Like the way Roxy is…”

“You mean… You’re trans?” Dave asked. “Like, you’re a girl?”

John took in a nervous breath. “I… Would that be… Would it be okay with you? If I was… If I was like that?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course it would be.” Dave said. “You’re my best friend in the world. And I’d beat the shit out of anyone who has a problem with you being you.”

John smiled a little and turned to look at Dave. “I think I’m a girl.” She said.

Dave smiled a little back. “Then I’ll call you a girl.” He said.

John smiled and rolled back onto her side.

Dave gave his best friend a moment before speaking. “So how long have you felt like that?” He asked.

“Since I was about fourteen.” John admitted. “I didn’t know what trans was though until I met Roxy so I’ve been spending a lot of time with him and trying to get to know him… I guess that’s why he thought I was flirting with him. Because I wouldn’t leave him alone.”

Dave nodded a little. “Do you want me to start calling you something different?” He asked.

John was quiet for a moment but smiled. “June.” She said.

“June it is.” Dave smiled.

June grinned and moved to hug her best friend. Dave hugged back and the two of them fell asleep together.


	16. Chapter 16

The next day, Keith made Dirk and Hal run laps in the training deck, only giving them breaks for food, water, or to use the bathroom. Lance went out to get baby supplies and introduced everyone to the toddler who still didn’t have a name and who Keith seemed to be avoiding.

Dirk and Hal didn’t seem to have any issues with each other the way the Dave’s did.

Everyone started calling the second Dave Davesprite though he didn’t know why, and June decided to wait to come out to everyone out of anxiety and so Davesprite agreed to pretend she was a boy around everyone else but would call her by her proper pronouns and name when they were alone.

Dave and Davesprite avoided each other and didn’t speak to each other but Davesprite could tell Karkat was mad at Dave during lunch and some of the others didn’t seem to know how to react to having two Daves and two Dirks on the ship.

Lance was currently sitting on the bridge with the baby while Rolo prepared to launch the ship off of the tourist planet. Keith walked in and hesitated to continue when he saw Lance and the happy looking child sitting on the floor together.

Lance looked up at him and smiled and Keith tried to smile back.

“Hey…” He said before walking over to Rolo. “Are we ready to leave?” He asked.

“Just about.” Rolo said and Keith nodded before heading for the door.

“Maybe we should give everyone another day here.” Lance said, stopping his boyfriend from leaving.

“Why?” Keith asked, turning to look at him.

Lance shrugged a little. “I don’t know.” He sighed. “I just feel like, maybe we should wait…” He looked at the child. “I don’t know if it’s smart to go off and fight a war with a baby on board…”

Keith hesitated but walked over and sat down with Lance. “Lance, we need to fight this war. Baby or no baby. This can’t wait.”

“Yeah, I know.” Lance said.

Keith let out a breath. “Unless… Maybe you would be open to the possibility of leaving him here…” He said, knowing Lance wasn’t going to be open to that.

Lance lowered his eyebrows. “Are you suggesting we abandon him?” He asked. “After you were so concerned about him growing up alone?”

“Someone would take him in.” Keith said. “He wouldn’t be alone.”

“No.” Lance said shortly. “We’re not leaving him behind.”

“Then you’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t get killed.” Keith said, standing up to leave.

“Me?” Lance asked. “He’s your kid too, you know…”

“I didn’t ask to be a dad…” Keith said.

“Neither did I, but it’s too late now, and either you’re going to help me raise him or you can go back to sleeping in your old room.” Lance replied, looking angry.

Keith let out a breath. “I guess I’ll get back to you on that…” He said before nodding at Rolo and leaving the room.

Rolo began the take off sequence and once they were in orbit, he walked over and sat with Lance. “So what are you gonna name the little guy?” He asked.

“I was thinking about calling him Takashi.” Lance said. “After Shiro’s first name but, I don’t know if Keith would be okay with that.”

Rolo nodded a little. “I’ll talk to him later. See if I can knock some sense into his stubborn head but, if worse comes to worse, and you decide to leave him somewhere, I can take care of him while you guys fight the war.” He offered. “You don’t really need me here anymore anyway. I was only supposed to pilot because Keith thought he was going to be inside a lion. And maybe I can work on getting some people ready for the rebellion while you’re off planet. Just like old times.”

Lance was quiet for a moment before he nodded. “Thanks.” He said. “A warship is no place for a baby.”

* * *

Karkat was avoiding Dave for the day, hoping he would start being a little more considerate of his clone’s feelings, and so he was sitting on the circular couch in the recreational room and reading when he felt the presence of someone behind him and heard a soft purring sound.

“What?” He asked, knowing Nepeta was behind him.

Nepeta sighed. She was laying on her stomach on the floor behind and above the couch, looking over Karkat’s shoulder at his book. She rolled over on her back, her head lightly grazing Karkat’s shoulder. “Where’s Dave?” She asked.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Karkat grumbled.

“Where’s other Dave?” Nepeta asked.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Karkat repeated, turning the page of his book.

Nepeta sighed again and Karkat groaned, folding the corner of his book page and closing it before putting it down and turning to sit on one of his legs so he could face Nepeta without getting up off of the couch.

“What?” He asked.

Nepeta rolled onto her stomach again and shrugged. “He’s fun.” She said. “And he’s been hanging out with you a lot so I thought you would know where he is. I wanted to know if he wanted to draw with me.”

“Well I don’t know where he is.” Karkat grumped. “And he’s being a fucking asshole right now so shun him if you can.”

“What did he do?” Nepeta asked.

“He cloned himself and then acted like clone Dave was a huge fucking burden and tried to make me pick one over the other.” Karkat said. “What is it with humans?” He asked. “Why are they so fucking dramatic over every goddamn thing?”

Nepeta just shrugged a little and let Karkat continue to rant.

“Like, the guy has his fucking issues with his human lusus and I get that. The guy seemed like he was an asshole. But Dave told me something he hated about the guy is that he treated Dave like he was a burden and now Dave is doing the same fucking thing.” Karkat vented. “Also that’s not even going into the whole thing about him refusing to let his clone date me while he is ‘cause that’s somehow weird even though they’re the same fucking person so that doesn’t make any goddamn sense. And then this fucking morning he asked me to clone myself so other him would have a version of me as if I want two fucking me’s running around the fucking place. That would be the worst fucking scenario!” He exclaimed. “So yeah. I’m kind of fucking pissed off at him right now.”

“Are you going to break up with him?” Nepeta asked, genuinely curious.

“I… No. I don’t think so.” Karkat said. “I sort of threatened to which I think pissed him off a little but I don’t really want to leave him. He’s just being an asshole and making me mad as fuck right now.”

“Why doesn’t he want you to date Davesprite?” Nepeta asked.

“I guess he doesn’t want to share me but like I said, that makes no fucking sense since they’re the same goddamn person.” Karkat sighed.

Nepeta was quiet for a moment. “Humans are strange.” She said.

“Yeah, fucking tell me about it.” Karkat said. “They’re all freaks.”

Nepeta smiled. “What are you reading?” She asked.

Karkat held up the book so she could see it, as he didn’t feel like reading the whole title aloud.

“Is it good?” Nepeta asked.

“It’s trash.” Karkat said, tossing the book back down on the couch. “But everyone knows I like trash, so yeah it’s good.”

“Do you want me to leave you alone so you can keep reading?” Nepeta asked.

Karkat shrugged. “Or I could read it to you, or you could stay and be quiet. Either way is fine.” He said, secretly loving to read to people.

Nepeta smiled and let Karkat read to her for about an hour before she left to go find Dave who was in the cargo bay, surrounded by storage crates that were filled to the brim with pouches of apple juice as he kept cloning a single pouch over and over and adding it to the pile next to the machine.

Nepeta walked over and looked at all of the juice. “Why are you making so much?” She asked as Dave hit the button on the cloning machine and cloned another pouch.

“I go through a lot of it.” He said.

Nepeta grabbed one of them and began drinking it before sitting down on the floor next to Dave’s pile. “Have you talked to Davesprite at all?” She asked.

“Nope.” Dave said. “And I’m not going to. The guy’s a dick.”

“He’s nice.” Nepeta said. “He’s just like you.”

“No he’s not.” Dave said. “He’s a dick and he’s a pathetic waste of space. Just look at him. He looks like a dog that just got smacked all the time. He’s like, fucking perma-sad or some shit.”

“I would be sad too if I were him.” Nepeta said.

“He has no fucking right to be sad.” Dave said. “It’s not like any of this shit belongs to him. He’s just a piece of meat with my face and memories. He needs to get over himself.”

Nepeta sighed and frowned, watching Dave clone more apple juice. “I think you should talk to him.” She finally said. “Maybe it will help you to talk to someone who knows you better than anyone else.”

“I don’t need help with anything.” Dave said. “I’m fine.”

Nepeta shrugged. “Dirk and Hal seem okay with each other so I think maybe you don’t like yourself.” She said.

“I don’t like myself, but no one likes themselves.” Dave said. “We all hate ourselves at least a little.”

“I don’t.” Nepeta said.

“Well then you’re a freak.” Dave said.

“I think you just have issues.” Nepeta said.

“I don’t have issues.” Dave said. “And I don’t need to talk about whatever issues I don’t have.”

Nepeta let out a breath and stood up. “Do you want to draw for a while?” She asked.

“Yeah sure.” Dave sighed. “You wanna help me carry all of this motherfucking aj to the kitchen?”

Nepeta smiled and picked up a crate of apple juice in response.

* * *

Karkat finished his book and was about to leave when Sollux walked in, though he looked a little disheveled. His hair was sticking out in places it normally didn’t and his shirt was on backwards. He walked in, immediately turned to look into the hallway, and closed the door, locking it before even realizing Karkat was in the room. When he saw him, he straightened up and tried to look normal. “Hey, Kk.” He said.

“Hey.” Karkat said, stepping up and off of the couch. “What the fuck happened to you?” He asked.

“Uh… Nothing.” Sollux said. “You haven’t seen Eridan have you?” He asked.

“No.” Karkat said. “Why?”

“Huh? No reason…” Sollux said, fixing his hair. “Just don’t want to run into him.”

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Did you two-”

“No!” Sollux interrupted. “Of course not! I’m not that desperate!”

“You sure about that?” Karkat asked, gesturing to his appearance.

Sollux hesitated. “It was supposed to be one fucking time, man…” He said, huffing out an annoyed breath and walking over to the other door to the room, looking out of it and closing and locking it. “One and fucking done. Then one turned into more than fucking one and the stupid fucker won’t leave me alone.”

“Why the fuck did you even go there?” Karkat asked.

“Pitch rebound after your stupid ass rejected me.” Sollux said honestly. Then I kept going there because I’m an idiot, I guess. But we were making out and I thought we were gonna fuck and then he started fucking telling me he thinks he’s red for me and I was like no the fuck you aren’t cut that shit out and he started crying so I just fucking got out of there.” He groaned. “I thought it would be fine too because apparently Dirk fucked him and he said he was into him now so I thought maybe he would leave me alone but I guess the fuck not.”

“Dirk fucked Eridan?” Karkat asked.

“Yeah apparently. He tried to fuck me too but I told him to fuck off.” Sollux said, realizing his shirt was inside out and fixing it. “Guess he’s cycling through everyone.” He shrugged.

Karkat nodded. “Well at least I know why there’s so much violet shit in the freezer now.” He grumbled and Sollux’s face turned golden with embarrassment.

“It’s not like it’s all from me and him.” Sollux said, defensively.

Karkat shrugged and turned to leave, opening one of the doors before Sollux spoke again.

“Hey, don’t tell anyone.” He said. “I don’t want people knowing I stooped that low.”

“Yeah whatever.” Karkat said, walking out and letting the door close behind him.

* * *

Dave sat in the dining room with Nepeta for a while. They drew cats and comics and drank apple juice until Nepeta left to be with her moirail. Dave drew another couple of comics for when she got back before he got up to leave as Davesprite walked in. The two of them stopped and looked at each other for a moment before Davesprite walked around him to sit down.

Dave looked at him for a moment before heading for the door as June walked in.

“Hey, Dave.” June smiled at him before walking over to sit with Davesprite.

“Hey…” Dave said, watching his best friend as she sat with a clone of him. “Do you wanna hang out or something?” He asked. “Karkat’s blowing me off.”

“Sorry, Dave. Me and Davesprite were gonna hang out for a bit.” June said. “But you could hang out with us.”

“No thanks. Have fun.” Dave said before walking out, not wanting to be around Davesprite.

Dave headed back towards his and Karkat’s room, hoping Karkat would be there and would be willing to speak to him. On the way there, he passed the training room and some restrooms that were near it. He decided to use the restroom but stopped just inside of the door when he heard Dirk’s voice past the dividing wall to the rest of the room.

“Shut the fuck up, Hal.” Dirk said.

“I’m just saying. Statistically, it’s not likely.” Hal replied.

“I know that. Do you think I’m a fucking idiot?”

“No. But I know I’m smarter than you.”

“Shut up. You don’t even need to piss. You’re just here to get out of laps.” Dirk said.

“Same reason you’re here.” Hal said.

“Look, mind your own fucking business.” Dirk said. “Just because you’re a half clone of me doesn’t mean you get to shove your ass into my personal life.”

There was a pause and it sounded like one of them let out a heavy breath.

“Dirk, you and I both know you’re only hurting yourself.” Hal said.

“And?” Dirk asked.

“And you’re hurting Jake.”

“Fuck you and fuck Jake.”

Dave let the door close behind him and the voices stopped before he walked in, not feeling great about eavesdropping.

Dirk and Hal were leaning against the sinks, both looking a little exhausted from the day of running. Dave nodded a greeting to them and used the bathroom before washing his hands and heading for the door.

“Hey.” Dirk said, getting him to stop and turn to look at him. “You didn’t tell Jake I came onto John and fucked Eridan did you?” He asked.

“No.” Dave said. “I don’t know you two well enough to judge if I should.”

Dirk shrugged a little. “Well… He doesn’t know. But don’t tell him. We’re having some issues.”

“Not really my business.” Dave said.

“Right...” Dirk said.

Dave turned around and left as Roxy was walking in.

Roxy waited for Dave to leave before walking over to Dirk and Hal. He jumped up to sit on the sink counter and looked at them both. “Got your message.” He said.

“Wow.” Hal said, looking at Dirk. “You asked Roxy to come defend you?”

“No.” Dirk said. “I just told him you were being an annoying asshole.”

Hal and Dirk looked back to Roxy.

“Please.” Roxy said. “Continue. I’ll jump in if I have something to say.”

“There’s nothing to continue.” Dirk said.

“I disagree.” Hal said. “You need to end things with Jake, stop drinking, and stop forcing yourself to have sex. We all know that you’re asexual and Jake is a closeted aromantic. He’s in it for the sex and you aren’t. You get drunk and force yourself to have sex in order to try and build up a tolerance for it and statistically, forcing yourself to be allosexual isn’t going to work. Not to mention that drinking is only going to make things worse on every other personal level.”

“I can agree with pretty much all of that.” Roxy chimed in.

“Shut the fuck up. I’m fine. I’m not ace. And I don’t need your fucking advice.” Dirk said.

“You had a fucking meltdown last year and told me you didn’t want to have sex.” Roxy said. “You’re ace and that’s okay. You need to stop forcing yourself to be allo because it just hurts you.”

“You also need to get over your internalized aphobia.” Hal said.

“I’m not aphobic. I’m just not ace.” Dirk said. “And I don’t need a fucking intervention.”

“I don’t mean to call bullshit in front of Roxy,” Hal said. “But I know you have shower meltdowns eighty-three percent of the the time right after having sex. I also know that you know you’re ace because you think about it every night and you hate having to put out for Jake to be interested. I have all of your memories. And frankly, you’re an asshole for blaming this on Jake when you think about it at night. You’re the one who refuses to tell him you aren’t happy and you’re the one who initiates sex sixty-six percent of the time because you’re afraid he’ll leave you if you don’t. He only does what he thinks you’re comfortable with.”

“If I’m an asshole so are you.” Dirk said.

“Perhaps.” Hal said. “But you combined me with a machine with a little more logic than you. And by that I mean a lot more logic than you. So I can look at this from a different viewpoint, a smarter viewpoint, and help you make changes.”

“I don’t need to make any fucking changes.” Dirk said.

“You need to tell Jake how you feel, and break up with him if he can’t deal with that.” Hal said. "It isn't as if you're close anymore anyway. You've been growing apart for a long time."

Dirk looked at Roxy. “You believe this piece of shit?” He asked.

Roxy nodded. “And I agree with him. Although I would like to add that the drinking isn’t totally connected to the ace thing.” He said. “That’s like a half and half split between you trying to force sex and you having emotional issues with what happened to your dad.”

“I’m not emotional.” Dirk said.

“Unless you’re alone in the shower or something.” Hal said.

"Shut up." Dirk said.

“You’re dad died, Dirk.” Roxy said. “You’re allowed to be upset. But the drinking isn’t how to go about it. Trust me.”

“Whatever. You two are both insane.” Dirk grumbled. “I’m going back to the training room.”

“I’m not.” Hal said. “I think all the sweat is getting in my circuits.”

Dirk shook his head, but before he could leave, one of the bathroom stall doors swung open and slammed against the next stall over. Kankri was standing and staring, angry at the other three.

“Have you been in here the-” Dirk started but was cut off.

“The whole time?” Kankri asked. “Yes. And I was sincerely hoping that you would come to an agreement or shut your mouths and leave so I wouldn’t have to get involved.” He said, walking over to wash his hands. “But apparently one of you is staying so I either have to stand silently in a bathroom stall until he finally decides to leave, or I can just come out and tell you that you’re practically braindead.” He paused as he turned to look at Dirk. “Guess which one I decided to go with.”

“I’m gonna guess the second one.” Dirk said.

“Correct.” Kankri said. “You are so braindead it’s honestly fascinating. Why are humans like this. You all have these things that you just can’t admit to yourselves and end up practically culling yourself trying to hide it. Humans are so annoying, I can’t take it anymore.”

Roxy let out a laugh. “Chill, dude.” He said.

Kankri grumbled something to himself but didn’t respond as he meticulously dried his hands.

“Look, I don’t think this is any of your business.” Dirk said.

“Well it could be.” Hal said. “Maybe we could slowly bring other people into the know so you could gradually come out.”

“No.” Dirk said. “I have nothing to come out about.”

“Untrue.” Kankri said. “I personally believe you should just say what you’re feeling and leave behind the idea of hiding your emotions behind your hideous shades.”

“They aren’t hideous.” Dirk and Hal said in unison.

“They are.” Kankri said before he pulled out his palmhusk and began pressing buttons. After a moment, he put his palmhusk away and looked back to Dirk. “I don’t care about your problems or your Earth sexuality slang.” He said. “But your drinking and your emotional state has impacted your ability to fight and your ability to make intelligent decisions in the not so distant past. You’re slipping and you could end up getting one or more of us killed. I won’t watch more of my friends die because of you. Sort out your issues or I will.”

Kankri turned and left the bathroom. There was a short silence in the room before Keith walked in.

“Get back to the training room!” He said, having been sent a message from Kankri telling him that Dirk and Hal were using the bathroom to avoid running laps.

* * *

Dave got back to his room to find Karkat reading a new book in bed.

He tried to look stoic as he looked at him. “You still avoiding me?” He asked.

“You still being a bitch?” Karkat asked without looking up from his book.

“I’m not being bitch.” Dave said.

“Bitch’s response.” Karkat said.

Dave sighed and sat down on the bed with his boyfriend, letting him read for a little while before he spoke up again. “Okay so here’s the thing.” He started.

“Oh I can’t fucking wait to hear about this thing.” Karkat said sarcastically, still not looking at his boyfriend.

“Look, okay… Maybe I’m being a fucking asshole-”

“Yes you are.”

“Would you let me talk?” Dave asked and Karkat said nothing. “Okay so the thing is that I hate myself.”

“I’m heavily aware of that, Dave.”

“Shut up. So every time I look at Davesprite or whatever the fuck everyone is calling him,” Dave continued. “I see literally everything I hate about myself. Everything. And on top of that, he gets to have wings which just isn’t fair.”

“You do realize that once he cuts that shirt off that he’s wearing he won’t be able to put on another one right?” Karkat asked. “It’s not a good thing. Be happy you don’t have wings.”

“Literally stop interrupting me and let me talk.” Dave said. Karkat was quiet for a moment and Dave continued. “Look, I don’t want to get fucking triggered or whatever every time I look at that guy. I hate how fucking sad he looks all the time. He reminds me of how sad I was as a kid which just reminds me of what growing up with like. I don’t want to have to deal with that.”

“You do realize that you look sad all the time too, right?” Karkat said. “That’s your stoic face that you probably spend years perfecting. It just looks like that.”

“No it doesn’t.” Dave said.

“Yes it does. And this doesn’t have anything to do with you not wanting him to date me.” Karkat said, finally looking up at him. “If you don’t want to see him, fine, don’t look at him. But you made him and you need to think about how shitty you would feel if you had been the clone. If you had walked out of that machine from the other chamber. How would you feel?” He asked. “He’s gone through everything you did and then you took away the one thing he had. He’s fucking miserable and you did that to him.”

Dave was quiet for a moment. “Well what the fuck am I supposed to do about it?” He asked.

Karkat closed his book and tossed it to the side. “What do you want to do about it? What are your options?” He asked.

“Sounds like I can either let him date you, which I don’t want to do, or I could not do that and you would be pissed at me.” Dave said. “Or I could kill him which would probably be pretty therapeutic if I’m honest but I don’t really want to do that either.”

“Start slow, Dave.” Karkat said. “Try talking to him. Maybe be friends with him. Then we can work out what we’re going to do about it. But for now, I don’t want to be affectionate around you if he’s around. You’re the same person and I care about both of you. Anything you wouldn’t want to see him do with me, I don’t want you to do that in front of him.”

Dave was quiet for another moment before he nodded. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.” He said.

Karkat kissed him on the cheek and picked his book back up.

* * *

Later that night, Dave left to find Davesprite. First he went to the dining room, thinking maybe Davesprite and June might till be there, then he went to his old room when they weren't, assuming Davesprite would have claimed it, but when he wasn’t there, he went to June’s room to see if she knew where he was. She also wasn’t there.

Dave walked around for a bit looking for them before he crossed paths with two exhausted looking Dirk’s. “You guys seen Davesprite?” He asked as they passed.

“Training room.” Hal said as the two kept walking towards the bedrooms, relieved to be done with laps for the day.

Dave nodded and headed to the training room. He walked in to see June standing in the middle of the room and looking up at Davesprite who was flying in a circle, his shirt having been torn up a bit to allow his wings to move better, as his wings came out of two holes in the back of his shirt.

“Hey.” Dave said, getting June’s attention.

June looked over and smiled, waving like the goof that she was.

Dave walked over as Davesprite landed next to June.

“Nice flying.” Dave said to Davesprite before looking at June. “Hey, John, can you give me a minute to talk to him?” He asked, gesturing to his clone.

June looked at Davesprite who shrugged. June shrugged and looked at Dave. “Okay. I was gonna go to bed anyway.” She said before leaving the room.

Dave waited for June to leave before looking back to Davesprite. “Can we talk?” He asked.

Davesprite nodded and Dave nodded back before he sat down on the floor. Davesprite did the same.

There was a long silence before Dave let out a groan and let himself fall onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry I made you.” He said. “Like, I’m sorry I pulled you into this without knowing what I was doing and fucked up your life by insisting it was mine. I get that we’re the same but, I just can’t do this, you know? I can’t look at you because you just look like the sad little kid I used to be and I hate that kid.”

Davesprite didn’t say anything, knowing Dave had more to say.

“I tried so hard to bury that kid. I don’t want a daily fucking reminder that I failed.” Dave continued. “And I know you have all my fucking issues and I’m totally making everything worse for you but I just don’t know that I can even be around you. You just remind me of all the times I used to cry and shit after getting the shit kicked out of me. All the times my bro told me to suck it up and hit me harder. I ditched emotions because they hurt and seeing you brings them back in a fucking flood and it hurts.”

Dave let out a breath but didn’t look at Davesprite.

“Do you remember the night our bro made us sleep on the roof?” Davesprite asked.

“Yeah.” Dave sighed. “Yeah, I remember fucking sobbing myself to sleep. Like who fucking does that to a kid. What? I didn’t fight back well enough so he makes me sleep outside? Fucking prick. I was eight.”

Davesprite nodded. “Remember when he broke our arm and told us to stop whining about it when he wouldn’t take us to the hospital?” He asked.

“Yeah, dude. I remember what you remember.” Dave said, finally looking over at Davesprite who was looking down at him.

“That’s my point.” Davesprite said. “Do you think it’s easier for me to look at you?” He asked. “I remember everything about our childhood just like you do. Whether or not you look sad, I know you’re hurting all the time. It has the same effect on me. But I don’t hate you. I’m just sad for you. I just want you to be okay. I want both of us to be okay and I want to drop the fucking stoic routine. We’re hurting. That’s okay. It’s okay to hurt. I’m done pretending I’m not in pain. I’m done shutting people out. I’m moving on, Dave. You should too. I think we could be happy someday if we just admit we need help. And it’s not even about Karkat. I mean, I love him and it hurts that he chose you over me. But I can’t lean on him to make me happy. I need to heal first. I need to figure out what I want. I need to do some introspection and figure out if I even want to be with Karkat. I mean, be serious. We fell for him in a day. We crave affection and the first person who gave us some ended up our boyfriend in a day. I love him but a relationship isn’t what I need. It’s nice, but it won’t fill the fucking hole. You know?”

“Have you been talking to Rose?” Dave asked.

“No.” Davesprite sighed. “No, I just couldn’t sleep last night because of the stupid wings and John’s snoring so I was thinking about how fucking depressed I am and how much I wish I could just be myself and it was sort of a fucking rabbit hole…”

Dave was quiet for a moment. “You… Slept in John’s room last night?”

“Platonically. Don’t freak out.” Davesprite said.

Dave shrugged and looked away, trying not to look like he cared. “You know, you can just move into our old room since I’m sharing with Karkat...” He said.

“Yeah I was sort of fucked up last night and didn’t think about it.” Davesprite said. “I sort of tried to shoot myself out of the airlock…”

Dave sat up and looked at his clone and Davesprite looked away from him.

Davesprite shrugged. “If John hadn’t been there I wouldn’t be here…” He said. “But yeah. I sort of hit rock bottom last night and it really just opened up a fucking floodgate… I’m just fucking done, man. I’m going to just be open about shit from now on. I’m going to ask for help when I need it.” He looked at Dave. “I really hope you do the same.”

There was a silence between them and Davesprite got up to leave, leaving Dave alone in the training room.


End file.
